I f i 

Wfe(fi;;ii!ii;;!,%i';;'' 

taftlf • 




tMiliivt vv.t'.l''f''' ■■■' 



4> 



• .^^°- 












< o 



- - . ,._^t \/ -A*- %.*^ .*^°' \./ 






G > 






^°-V. 



2^^-*/ V'-^^-,/ '\,^-'/ V'-H^' 














.'. '^^0^ o.;^^a'- .^o<^ :im^. '^^c^ 






^ , '..c^Sf^W 



VAo^ 














A. o 



* AT ^ 




>>t. <:^^ ^i^M^^. "'^^ ^-^ oV"^^^^'- '^^ V^ 



'bV" 







0° .^.^1'. °o ./ • 














3*^^o,. 



^^ -<?• -.^^W* .^^ "^^ --^^315^,* ^ 







:. ■n«.o< -" 











4 o 

■•- %,.^^^ .#&. \„./ /^\ ^**..^*'' .-^^ \„.^^ 



%mitth %tttttptt9i9i Cbition 

This edition of The Legends and Traditions of a 
Northern County is limited to 600 copies, printed 
from type, and the type distributed. 



THE LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS 

OF A 

NORTHERN COUNTY 



THE 
LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS 

OF A 

NORTHERN COUNTY 



JAMES FENIMORE COOPER 



COOPERSTOWN. MAY, 1920 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 

(Tbe ftnicKecbocltet press 

1921 



FlZ7 

.075C17 



Copyright, 193 1 

by 

James Fenimore Cooper 

Printed in the United States of America 



^t^ 



AUG 20 1921 




0)CI.A624034 



<Vyi> \ 



THESE SKETCHES 
ARE DEDICATED TO 

MY FOUR SONS 

IN MEMORY OF MANY 

HAPPY DAYS SPENT WITH THEM 

IN 

"OLD OTSEGO" 



FOREWORD 

This is not a history nor, strictly speaking, merely 
Legends and Traditions ; it is less than the former and 
perhaps more than the latter. The facts are correctly 
stated where given, the anecdotes and legends are 
repeated as told to me by members of an older genera- 
tion, and my own experience and impressions are truly 
set forth. 

The whole was written with the hope of preserving 
for future generations of my family the life and the 
thoughts of people living under conditions which are 
gone forever, and of creating in the minds of its readers 
the atmosphere in which they lived, struggled, died, and 
were buried. 

It is written in compliance with repeated requests 
of my four sons, in fulfillment of my promise to each 
of them, and with the hope that it may foster in those 
of my descendants who may read it a love of the beau- 
tiful country with which their ancestors have been so 
closely associated for generations. If it does this, and 
perhaps induces them to familiarize themselves to a 
greater extent with the history of the town and county 
and State, I shall feel that it is well done. 

J. F. C. 

COOPERSTOWN, 

May, ig2o 



vu 



AN INTRODUCTION 

In i6i2, three years after Hendrick Hudson came to 
Albany, and eight years before the Pilgrims landed at 
Plymouth Rock, two Dutch explorers came up the 
Mohawk from Albany (Fort Orange), crossed over the 
hills to Otsego Lake, and went down the Susquehanna 
Valley. They undoubtedly stopped at the Indian 
village which then occupied the site of Cooperstown, 
and were the first white men known to visit this coun- 
try. They filed a map of their wanderings in Amster- 
dam, where it was found a few years ago. 

Probably an occasional white man, priest or trader, 
visited Otsego Lake during the next century, but no 
settlement was attempted until Rev. John Christopher 
Hartwick, a Lutheran minister, thinking the lake was 
on his patent, started one about 1761. He abandoned 
it on finding that his line ran a mile or two further south. 
A little later, in 1770, came George Croghan, Sir Wm. 
Johnson's successor as Indian agent, and one of the 
patentees of the tract of 109,000 acres on which the 
lake and town are situated, and built a log house and 
outbuildings, and lived here with his family until just 
before the Revolution. 



X ^n 39introbuctton 

During the war the red Indians under Brant and the 
more brutal blue-eyed ones under Butler made this lonely 
spot unsafe for settlers, and it was abandoned to the 
wilderness. 

In 1779 Gen. Clinton with his troops, on their ex- 
pedition to punish the Six Nations, camped here for 
several weeks, built a dam at the source of the Susque- 
hanna, broke it, and went down on the flood. 

Again the wilderness closed in on the vestiges of the 
settlement, until, in 1785, William Cooper arrived on 
horseback with his gun and fishing rod. He camped on 
the spot, returned to his home in Burlington, and bought 
about 50,000 acres, including the present village site. 
The next year he started a settlement and a few years 
later brought his family and servants from Burlington, 
N. J., and lived here until his death in 1809. 

The town, known first as "Foot of the Lake," then 
as "Cooperton, " and "Coopers Town, " and for a short 
period as "Otsego," finally settled down to the "Coopers- 
town" of to-day. 



CONTENTS 

An Introduction 

Early Settlements and Settlers 

Local Nomenclature 

The Four Corners . 

Ghosts — Ours and Others 



A Graveyard Romance — ^A Tragedy and a Scandal 6 1 



Some Abandoned Houses .... 

The Red — the Black— and the White Man 

A Great Highway 

A Lost Atmosphere . 

Some Old Letters 

toddsville 

James Fenimore Cooper 

Otsego Hall 

Introduction to A Guide in the Wilderness 

NOTES 



IX 

3 
17 
28 
40 



78 
88 

113 
121 
136 

195 
201 
223 
233 



William Cooper 247 

Sir William Johnson 257 

'* Tangier" Smith 259 



THE LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS 

OF A 

NORTHERN COUNTY 



Zhc Xeoenbs anb XCrabitions of 
H IRortbern Countig 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS 

The Colony of New York was unlike any of the other 
colonies and states in the manner of its early settlement 
and the character of its land holdings. 

When the Dutch West Indies Company began the 
settlement of the vast territory, which eventually 
shrank to the Colony of New York, it conveyed great 
tracts of land to patroons, who had to furnish a certain 
number of settlers to make good their title. Within 
the limits of their grants these patroons had great and 
autocratic powers. 

When the English took over the colony all these 
grants were confirmed and eventually erected into 
manors. For years the English continued to grant 
great tracts of land as manors. In this way Long 
Island, Westchester County, and the Hudson Valley 
to a point above Troy were settled. 

The difference between ordinary grants of land, 

3 



4 Htqtntu of a J^ortfiern Count? 

such as were made later in the Colony of New York and 
in other colonies, and manorial grants was legally a 
technical but in reality a very real one. The Lord of the 
Manor had autocratic power over his tenants within 
the Manor ; he held courts, civil and criminal ; he could 
punish his tenants as he had "The high justice, the 
middle justice and the low." In fact, generally speak- 
ing, he stood between his tenantry and the colonial or 
home government. Since the 13th century, there 
have been no manors erected in England. There were 
no others in this country except a few small ones in 
Maryland and one doubtful one in New England, and 
perhaps one or two in the south. 

The grantees or lords of these manors built their 
manor houses and lived in royal style on their domains, 
surrounded by their tenantry. In this way there grew 
up in the Colony of New York a great landed aristoc- 
racy which had no equal anywhere else in this country. 
Some of the manors were enormous. Tangier Smith's 
Manor of St. George was originally fifty miles wide on 
the ocean and sound and of that width across Long 
Island. 

The Van Rensselaer Manor at Albany was twenty- 
four miles on either side of the Hudson and forty-eight 
miles east and west. The Patroon had a fort on Baeren 
Island at the beginning of his lands and made every 
boat which went up or down the Hudson salute his flag. 



€arlj> ^ettlementjEf anb ^ettlerg 5 

There was an attempt to create a manor in the lower 
Mohawk Valley, but its immense size caused such an 
outcry that it was abandoned, and no more were 
created. I think that, all told, there were twelve 
manors in the State, and one great patroonship never 
erected into a manor. Later lands were granted 
in great tracts but without manorial rights in the 
patentees. The land grants followed the important 
streams first and then filled in the less valuable land 
lying away from the navigable waters. 

Among these patents were those about Coopers- 
town. The great Croghan or Cooper Patent (1769) con- 
tained one hundred thousand acres and nine thousand 
additional for roads. It ran from about the point 
where the Oaks Creek joins the Susquehanna up along 
the west bank of the river to Otsego Lake ; along the 
entire west shore of the lake to where the little stream 
which runs in front of Swanswick empties into the lake ; 
then a long arm ran off toward Springfield Center and back 
and the line ran west crossing Schuyler's Lake, and 
thence west beyond Wharton's Creek and down to a 
line running west from the village of Mt. Vision and 
south of Gilbert Lake; then back to above the Village 
of Hartwick and off east to the place of beginning. 

Judge Cooper had about forty-five or fifty thousand 
acres of it in all; but immediately parted with about 
fifteen hundred. 



6 Hegenbs; of a iBtortfjern Count? 

In our neighborhood there were also the Miller 
Patent, upon which Fynmere stands, of thirty thousand 
acres; a part of this, I think about ten thousand acres, 
came to the Bowers family ; the Hartwick Patent, south 
of the Cooper (1761), containing twenty-one thousand 
five hundred acres; the Springfield Patent, upon which 
Hyde Hall stands, with eighteen thousand acres; the 
Butler Patent of forty-seven thousand; the Otego, 
with sixty-nine thousand and the Morris \sdth thirty- 
three thousand. In all of these, with the possible ex- 
ception of the Miller and Morris, Judge Cooper was 
heavily interested. 

Some purchasers took large tracts out of these 
patents, and they were the ones who, with the paten- 
tees, built the great houses which are scattered over 
the countryside. It was from the owners of these 
vast tracts of land that the villages took their names : 
Cooperstown, Morris, Gilbertsville, and Sangerfield got 
their names in this way. 

Of one of the patents on the Susquehanna an interest- 
ing story is told. Before the Colony would grant any 
land, the would-be purchaser had to acquire the Indian 
title. The tale runs that among Sir William Johnson's 
Indian guests at dinner one day was Red Jacket, a 
famous Seneca Chief. Sir William happened to 
be wearing a new uniform just received from Eng- 
land; Red Jacket eyed it enviously and the next 



€arl|> Settlement's anb Settlerj; 7 

morning said to Sir William: "Quider, I dreamed a 
dream last night." Sir William asked, with sinking 
heart, "And what did you dream?" "I dreamed that 
you gave me that red coat you wore yesterday." Sir 
WilHam well knowing Indian etiquette, passed over 
the uniform and Red Jacket went away proud and 
happy. 

In the fall Sir William made his usual annual trip 
among the Indian villages and spent a night with Red 
Jacket. In the morning he said, "Red Jacket, I 
dreamed a dream last night." Poor Red Jacket asked 
him what he had dreamed, and Sir William repHed: 
"I dreamed that you gave me thirty thousand acres of 
land." Red Jacket said nothing, but looked solemn 
and no doubt considered the price high for the "Red 
Coat." However, in due time he arrived at Mount 
Johnson with an Indian deed for 30,000 acres of land 
which he handed to Sir William with the remark: 
"Quider, do not dream again." 

The facts were forgotten, and the story was con- 
sidered a pretty legend of Indian customs, until there 
was found, in the Otsego County Clerk's office, the 
deed of a lot of land, described as being "In Sir William 
Johnson's Dreamland Tract." This located the land 
as lying along the Susquehanna not far from Unadilla. 

There was one celebrated settlement planned, but 
never made, on the banks of the Susquehanna; in 1794 



8 ILtqtntisi of a iBtortfjern Countp 

Coleridge and Southey, at Oxford, organized the 
" Pantisocracy, " which was to found a Utopia on "the 
banks of that river in America with the beauti- 
ful name — Susquehanna." Robert Lovell joined the 
Pantisocrats and the plan was developed. They found 
three enthusiastic maidens wiUing to venture to the 
Susquehanna; Coleridge and Lovell married two of 
them and Southey became engaged to the third. 

The men were to till the soil and \^Tite; the women 
were to care for the homes and the children; and all 
were to converse. Everything was arranged for ex- 
cept the necessary money. To raise this Coleridge 
and Southey lectured and ^TOte. Unfortunately the 
scheme never materialized and the banks of the Sus- 
quehanna only benefitted to the extent of ha\dng a 
small club named for the ' ' Pantisocrats " over a century 
later. 

Other legends cling to the river, and other settlements 
grew up; some of them commercial only like Phoenix; 
some educational like Hartwick Seminary, founded by 
John Christopher Hart\\ick, the Lutheran minister, in 
the early 19th century and still prosperous; and some 
like Unadilla beautiful only, alike in name and location. 

There is a story about a settlement at or near Una- 
dilla which illustrates the rough and ready life of the 
days when this country' was new. They were the times 
when virile men lived and struggled, drank, fought, and 



Carlj) ij>cttlements{ anb Settlers; 9 

died young, crowding the activities of a long life into 
a short one. 

One day, years ago, I met, gossiping with the two 
artists P and T , whose story I have told else- 
where, a third old man. When my name was men- 
tioned, he laughed and said, "We ought to be friends 
as my grandfather knew Judge Cooper and once threw 
him in a wrestling match." Of course I was interested 
and he told me the following tale : He came from Una- 
dilla and his people had been among the early settlers 
there. The land they lived on and were cutting out of 
the wilderness, either belonged to Judge Cooper or he 
was agent for it. There came a bad year; the crops 
failed and the settlers could not meet their payments 
of rent or the installments on account of the purchase 
of the land. A public meeting was called and, as the 
result, one of them was chosen to go to Cooperstown and 
present their cause to Judge Cooper. The delegate 
was my informant's grandfather. He started on the 
long, sixty-mile trip to Cooperstown, while the settlers 
anxiously waited. He found Judge Cooper at home 
and stated his case, no doubt eloquently, for when he 
had finished the Judge said : ' ' You think you are some- 
thing of an athlete, I think the same of myself, suppose 
we try a wrestling bout ; if I throw you, your cHents must 
find a way to pay ; if, on the other hand, you throw me, I 
will give you a receipt in full for the whole settlement." 



lo Hegentisi of a i^ortdern Countj» 

The bargain was struck, the furniture moved aside, 
and the wrestlers closed with one another. 

The Lord was with the suffering settlers and their 
champion smote the Judge hip and thigh and laid him 
on his back on the library floor. True to his word, he 
wrote out the receipt and the champion returned tri- 
umphant to his anxious neighbors. There is no record 
of what this fall cost Judge Cooper. 

From this and other anecdotes one can understand 
why he was such a popular and successful maker of 
settlements. 

Within the Umits of the so-called Cooper Patent are, 
besides the Village of Cooperstown, Fly Creek, Summit, 
Toddsville, Bourne, Oaksville, Schuylers Lake, Patent, 
Snowden, Burlington Green, Burlington Flats, West 
Burlington, Hell Town, Garretsville, New Lisbon, 
Welcome, Lena, Wharton, Edmeston, Lows Mills, and 
Fall Bridge. 

Lows Mills, one of the oldest settlements on the 
Patent, was made where Swanswick now stands and 
the little pond in front of it is the old mill pond. 

The actual earliest settlement, with the exception 
of Hartwick's mistaken beginning on the Lake, was 
George Croghan's at Cooperstown; but this was aban- 
doned just before the Revolutionary War, although 
one at least of the buildings was standing when William 
Cooper came in 1785. 



€arlj» Settlements^ anti Settlers; ii 

The following is a verbatim copy of the earliest letter 
which I know of from a settler on the lake. Where the 
writer was living, I do not know, but think that it 
must have been somewhere near the locality of what 
was later called Lows Mills. If Mr. Hicks had been 
half as ingenious in other ways as he was in misspelling, 
his fame would have Hved until to-day and his home in 
1773 would now be known to all. 

Lake Otsago October 3th 1773 

Sir 

I imbrace this opertunity to lett you know that my 
Family is in good helth & wish these lins will find you & 
your Lady in the same we hed the new by a chance news 
paper which plesed mutch & we all wish you joy/ the 
Settlement gos on flourishing "will soon becom a fine 
Countrey/ Year is a grate maney welthy men is willing 
to become Settlers as soon as they can know the seling price 
of the Land/ the Settlers at the Butternuts hath made a 
good opening & as taken som of thir Fameies out this Sum- 
mer/ I have sold my Land at the Butter nuts & am going 
to settel at the Adgo manesty ware with me all winter & 
proved not with Fole which I am sorrey for/ N athenel Edwards 
as had him at the Adego all this sumor/ Thomas Wise will 
Inform you how afairs goe on hear/ I have a mind to com 
down my self if my Busnis will permit/ I have had verey 
bad luck this Sumor with my Cattel I have lost i Cow & 
4 Calve & I Horse/ my Crop of wheat & my Ry Sufferd 
verey mutch by a hale storm/ the stons of which ware 
Seven Inches Round but Hope with the help of Providence 
I shall make out til my next Crop coms in/ Sir if I can be 
of aney sarvis to you in this part of the worls I shall be 



12 Uegenbs! oC a i^ortfjem Count|> 

verey Redy to Sarve you to the utmost of my Power/ Hear 
is a better understanding betwen us that came up first to 
what it wars wen we first com hear but I have Sufferd 
verey mutch in my Carecter & Pocket/ but I hope you are 
all convincd of what as been said to be false/ my Wife is 
verey well satsified hear & Rembers hir Kind Respeck to 
your Spous & all your famely so I remain your 
Humbel Sarvant 

John Hicks. 

N.B. Thomas Wise as been at work this two Sommers 
for Nathenel Edwards ware to hve Land Cleared by this 
fawl according to agreement but Thomas Seeing no likley- 
wood of his porforming his promis thought of aplying to 
you to help him forward pray dont let Nahanel now I have 
mentend aney thing concarning him for I want now ill 
blood. 

One cannot help feeling grateful that the "hale 
stones" have not grown in the past hundred and fifty 
years. 

The great patent as appears on the old maps was 
eventually subdivided among the following owners: — 
C. P. Low 7,500 (Prevost and Gary), V. P. Dow 12,000, 
C. Golden 14,000, Vanveeler & Lansing 1,500, G. Bowne 
1,500, Verree 1,500, J. Lonston 1,500, E. Wells 9,000, 
R. Smith 4,000, H. Hill 2,000, John Gox and daughter 
6,000, Susanna Dilwing 6,000. The balance came to 
Judge Gooper and Andrew Graig, of which 1,500 acres 
went to one Ellis. Gooper bought out Graig in 1798. 
Susanna Dilwing and Hill called their tract Bloomfield 



€axlv ^ettlementji anti Settlers; 13 

after a governor of Pennsylvania. Eighteen thousand 
acres of the Butler patent was known as Hillington after 
its owner, one H. Hill. 

This is Mohawk country and the Indians who lived at 
or near the foot of the lake belonged to that tribe, the 
fiercest and perhaps the greatest of North American 
Indians. They kept the eastern door of the Long 
House of the Six Nations. Hendrick and Brant were 
chiefs of the tribe. Over Hannah's Hill ran one of their 
war trails to the south which quite recently could be ea sily 
followed. It was about eight inches wide and six deep, 
worn by innumerable moccasined feet travelling single 
file through the centuries. 

While we cannot actually claim it as a local story, 
the hero of an Indian tale, which Governor Seymour 
was fond of telling, may have lived in our Indian village 
or hunted and fished here ; or helped wear the trail over 
Hannah's Hill, and thus give it a sufficiently local color 
to justify repeating it: Among the tribes which were 
held subject by the Six Nations was one on Long Island. 
One year they decHned to pay the annual tribute of 
wampum. A council of the Six Nations was held and 
a Mohawk chief delegated to visit the rebellious tribe 
and enforce payment. Alone he went down through 
the hostile country to the chief village of the subject 
tribe. A council was called to hear his message. When 
it was assembled, he asked who had advised not paying 



14 ICegentJiS of a Movtttvn Ccmntp 

the tribute. A chief arose. The Mohawk stepped 
up to him and brained him with his tomahawk saying, 
"This will teach you not to disregard the orders of your 
masters." He returned unmolested to his native 
village and the tribute was paid. 

Governor Seymour, a great admirer of the Six Na- 
tions, used to add: "There is nothing finer in Roman 
History." 

It may not be out of place to repeat here the follow- 
ing quotation from Judge Cooper's account of his 
settlement of this country, written in 1807 for William 
Sampson and published in Dublin in 18 10 under the 
title of A Guide to the Wilderness. 

In 1785 I visited the rough and hilly country of Otsego, 
where there existed not an inhabitant, nor any trace of a 
road ; I was alone, three hundred miles from home, without 
bread, meat, or food of any kind; fire and fishing tackle 
were my only means of subsistence. I caught trout in the 
brook and roasted them in the ashes. My horse fed on the 
grass that grew by the edge of the waters. I laid me down 
to sleep in my watch coat, nothing but the melancholy 
Wilderness around me. In this way I explored the country, 
formed my plans of future settlement, and meditated upon 
the spot where a place of trade or a village should afterwards 
be established. 

At what he considered the close of his career, at the 
age of fifty-four years he wrote as follows : 



(Karlp ^ettlementjf anb ^ettlerjf 15 

I began with the disadvantage of a small capital, and 
the encumbrance of a large family, and yet I have already 
settled more acres than any man in America. There are 
forty thousand souls now holding, directly or indirectly, 
under me, and I trust that no one amongst so many can 
justly impute to me any act resembling oppression. I am 
now descending into the vale of life, and I must acknowl- 
edge that I look back with selfcomplacency upon what I 
have done, and am proud of having been an instrument in 
reclaiming such large and fruitful tracts from the waste of 
the creation. And I question whether that sensation is not 
now a recompense more grateful to me than all the other 
profits I have reaped. Your good sense and knowledge of 
the world will excuse this seeming boast; if it be vain (we 
all must have our vanities) , let it at least serve to show that 
industry has its reward, and age its pleasures, and be an 
encouragement to others to persevere and prosper. 

One other quotation has a personal touch which 
justifies its insertion here. It is from a letter written 
by James Fenimore Cooper in 1833 or 4, giving an 
account of his first trip to Cooperstown after his return 
from Europe. He describes the changes along the 
Mohawk Valley and says : 

On returning to the inn I made an arrangement to go 
in the same car with Mrs. Perkins and her party to Schenec- 
tady, and thence to this place in an extra, which is a sort of 
posting. We were well served, no delay, not longer than 
in France a hundred miles from Paris, and got here, 56 
miles from Albany, at six o'clock. This place is redolent 
of youth. It is now sixteen years since I was here. Roof's 



1 6 ILtQtntjn of a i^ortfjem Countp 

tavern, which I remember from childhood is still standing, 
altered to Murray's, and the road winds round it to 
mount to Cherry Valley as in old times. But the house 
is no longer solitary. There is a village of some six or eight 
hundred souls, along the banks of the canal. The bridges 
and boats, and locks give the spot quite a Venetian air. 
The bridges are pretty and high, and boats are passing al- 
most without ceasing. Twenty certainly went by in the 
half hour I was on them this evening. I have been up the 
ravine to the old Frey house. It looks as it used to in many 
respects, and in many it is changed for the worse. The 
mills still stand before the door, the house is, if anything, as 
comfortable and far finer than formerly, but there is a dis- 
tillery added, with a hundred or two of as fat hogs, as one 
could wish to see. I enjoyed this walk exceedingly. It 
recalled my noble looking, warm hearted, witty father, with 
his deep laugh, sweet voice, and fine rich eye, as he used to 
lighten the way, with his anecdotes and fun. Old Frey 
with his little black peepers, pipe, hearty laugh, broken 
English, and warm welcome was in the back ground. I 
went to the very spot, where one of the old man's slaves 
amused Sam and myself with the imitation of a turkey, some 
eight and thirty years since; an imitation that no artist has 
ever yet been able to supplant in my memory. 



LOCAL NOMENCLATURE 

Some of the names of roads and places about Coopers- 
town are interesting and already their origin is lost in 
the past. 

Of the hills we have "Hannah's Hill" named for 
Hannah Cooper; and Mt. Vision, opposite to it, named 
by Judge Cooper, I believe. Down to the southeast of 
Red Creek we have Eggleston Hill, named from the 
family that settled on it; then moving north, up the 
east side of the Red Creek Valley, — Hell Hill, from the 
difficulty of climbing it ; Murphy Hill, from the family 
that lived at its base in the Cherry Valley; Johnnie 
Cake Hill and next Sweet Ireland, the latter the north- 
erly part of Johnnie Cake; Sweet Ireland came from 
the settlement of Irish which has about disappeared, 
but Johnnie Cake no one to-day can explain. 

Of the roads — the Cornish Road runs up from 
Bowerstown (Dogtown) and over to the Cherry Valley 
toward the south. Nothing is known of the origin of 
this name; there may have been a family of Cornishes 
living on or near it when settlers were few and the roads 
took the names of the adjoining land owners; there is 
no town of the name anywhere near ; or the great beauty 

a 17 



1 8 ICegenbfl; of a i^ortfjem Countp 

of the view from it may have recalled to the mind of some 
traveled resident the beauty of the Cornice Road and 
who suggested, half in jest, calling it that, easily cor- 
rupted to Cornish. 

To the north are the Murphy Hill Road and the 
Sweet Ireland Road. From Red Creek Farm No. 2, 
there branches off to the east the road known as 
"Pink Street," why or wherefore no one can tell. 

"Stoney Lonesome" tells its own tale; it is in the 
shallow hollow of the hills between Lentsville, in the 
Red Creek Valley, and the Lake. The old house has 
completely disappeared and the roads running through 
the hollow, one of them the "Mosquito Road," have 
been abandoned and closed. Going to it from either 
of the eastern approaches via Middlefield Center or 
Lentsville, the road passes large and once prosperous 
farmhouses, now abandoned to the fate which has al- 
ready overtaken the Stoney Lonesome house and many 
of its contemporaries. 

The roads grow rougher and more difficult to follow 
until they become impassable or are fenced oif . The 
trip across, an attractive one twenty -five years ago, can 
now only be made on foot or horseback. This secluded, 
shallow, bowl-shaped valley among the hilltops has all 
the wonderful charm of the country; the rough fields 
overgrown with a great variety of colored weeds; the 
low wooded hills; the abandoned fences and almost 



Hocal i^omenclature 19 

vanished evidences of occupation unite to make the 
spot not only "Lonesome" but beautiful. The lay of 
the land and the ever-changing color of the clearing fill 
the eye, while the loneliness and vanishing evidences 
of cultivation appeal to the imagination. One wonders 
why, scores of years ago, any settler had the courage to 
clear the fields and build the often great farmhouses. 
Conditions of life were harder then, when all this labor 
was expended, than they were when the places were 
abandoned and fell to ruins. 

Near Stoney Lonesome is Eagle Hill, with a marvel- 
ous view of the country, but the abandonment of the 
roads and the growth of the trees has long made it in- 
accessible and now even its location is forgotten. 

On the other side of the lake, almost opposite, and 
close to the short road from Cooperstown to Richfield, 
is "Rum Hill" — in these more polite and prohibition 
days called "Mount Otsego." The story runs that, 
at a conference between the early settlers and the 
Indians, a barrel of rum figured as the consideration 
of a proposed sale. A disagreement arose, and some 
one pushed the barrel over the edge of the hill. It 
bounded from ledge to ledge and finally breaking, 
spilled the precious fire water over the hillside. 

Further to the west is Angel Hill, named for the 
family that once owned much of it ; and one can wander 
from point to point all over the countryside finding 



20 Hegentis; of a i^ortfjem Count? 

curious and interesting local names. At the head of 
the lake is the "Sleeping Lion," sometimes called Mt. 
Wellington. Its original name was Mt. Millington, 
but when George Clarke built Hyde Hall, he found 
it easy to change "Millington" to "Wellington" 
in honor of his friend and schoolmate. The extreme 
southern point of this hill is the "Shad Cam," 
left by Judge Cooper to the youngest Elizabeth 
Cooper Uving in 1850. Alas, she never got it, as long 
before that date the owner of the adjoining land had 
pulled down the fence and claimed the point. 

The "Shad Cam" was given its name by the Cooper 
boys of a hundred years ago. Even in those days the 
lake was infested by lying fishermen. One of them, of 
Scotch descent, used to boast, as they still do, of the 
fishing of his youth, and finally, as the climax of the 
stories of the past, he indicated this point and said, 
"Why, boys, in those days the shad cam up to that 
point." 

On the old map of the Springfield Patent the ' ' Shad 
Cam" is indicated as containing eight acres and as 
belonging to W. Cooper. In Judge Cooper's "List 
of Lands unsold, commencing Nov. i6th, 1797, "is the 
following entry: "Springfield Pattent, Nov. i6th Point 
and Fishing Place in lot No. 32, 8 acres, Value 250.00. " 

Opposite the five-mile point is the "Dugw^ay" with 
its history lost. We know the name is a very old one as 



Hocal i^omenclature 21 

in the itemized account kept by Judge Cooper of the 
cost of the road on the east side of the lake there is an 
entry of the payment of £68, 5sh. & 6d. for building the 
' ' Fifth Mile of the road (The Dugway ) . ' ' This was in 1 790 
and on June 18, 1792, it cost I7sh. for "Mending the 
Dugway." The entire road cost £388, I5sh. & id. 
The State of New York had appropriated £400 for the 
work and the closed account shows a credit of nearly 
twelve pounds. 

In the Oak Creek Valley a road branches from the 
main highway just south of Schuyler's Lake; a mile or 
so up the road, where it forks for Hartwick and Burling- 
ton, is Pleasant Valley, innocuous enough in appearance 
but universally known as "Hell Town." Among the 
few houses still standing is an interesting field stone 
farmhouse. 

Below Milford, on the east of the Susquehanna is 
"The Crumhorn," with a forgotten history. Crum- 
horn Mountain was the home of the rattlesnake fifty 
years ago, and its beautiful lake, which fills its bowl- 
like top, was then a great resort for fishermen. To- 
day it is almost abandoned ; the old tavern on the shores 
of the lake has been turned into a summer residence and 
is closed, while the farmhouses have been deserted 
and are falling into ruin. 

I doubt if it now has as many residents as it did two 
days after Christmas in the year 1808, when a contem- 



22 Hegentij; of a i^ortijern County 

plative farmer, whose name, unfortunately has not 
survived, comfortably seated by his fireside while the 
winter winds blew fiercely over the mountain top, 
wrote the following political diatribe : 

After I had done my days work I set down by the fire- 
side to shave a stick that I had cut for an axe handle, my 
Wife had put all the Children in bed and was turning over 
and contriving patches for their Cloths; as she seemed much 
engaged in her economical plans I did not chuse to disturb 
her by entering into conversation, my mind was engaged on 
many subjects it soon however fixed upon politics and the 
cause of the great stagnation of all kinds of business, they 
say that Buonaparte, King George, or some body else will not 
let our Vessels sail on the Ocean ; of course then we Farmers 
can have no market for our produce except we take it by 
Land. 

I know of no place we can go to in this way but Canada 
and this our own Government forbids, but what right has 
Buonaparte or King George to interfere with us? it is true, 
I read in the Papers that Buonaparte told the World that 
they should not trade with King George, and that King 
George soon after told all those who were afraid to trade 
with England upon the account of Buonaparte's threat, 
that they should not trade with France unless they paid 
him for it, you see by this that he likes Money, the thought 
struck me that our Rulers ought not to have depended upon 
the justice of other Nations for the protection of our rights 
for if Mankind were all just and good they would want no 
rulers, it must then be the fault of our rulers that we are 
placed in our present situation, or rather our own fault for 
placing them to rule over us, who to say the least it appears 
are not capable of doing it to our advantage. I finished my 



ILotal i^omenclature 23 

axe handle and an excellent piece of Timber it was, and I 
thought if we were as careful in looking for rulers as we are 
in choosing an axe handle we should have better times, to 
be sure the timber here is not as good as it is down Country, 
(and this inferiority for aught I know may hold good in the 
animate as well as the inanimate World), but then we have 
some pretty good Walnut &c., &c., we need not therefore 
take Witch Hazel or Bass Wood unless we have a mind to 
do so. 
Crum Horn Dec. 27th. 1808. 

This is the earliest mention of the name of which I 
have any knowledge; it throws no light on its origin 
but shows it to be well over a century old. With many 
another similar document the above found its way into 
the possession of Judge Cooper and has long survived 
the children whose clothes were being patched that 
December night. 

There is laid down on some of the old maps a narrow 
strip of land marked * ' Crumhorn Patent. ' ' Perhaps one 
of the patentees was named " Crumhorn." 

Above Milford on the same road are "The Jams," 
so called, I was told years ago by my aunt, Susan 
Fenimore Cooper, because the hills have the appearance 
of having been jammed violently together. Down the 
ravine runs a little stream falling from ridge to ridge. 

North of Hannah's Hill, and just west of Fenimore, 
is Mount Ovis. It was named a little over a century 
ago, about 1813, by my grandfather, who kept on it 



24 ILt^tntisi of a i^ortfjem Countj> 

some of the first imported Merino sheep. Among 
them was a famous ram, Sinbad, which was killed by 
falling into the well. 

Papoose Pool is now little more than a swamp, to 
the left of the River road just below its junction with 
the road to Richfield ; less than fifty years ago it was a 
beautiful wooded pool, with the reputation of being 
bottomless. In fact there was only a few feet of water 
and Hmitless mud. It is a quicksand and there are 
stories of the quite recent loss of a farm team and 
wagon in its depth. No reason for its name is known 
to-day. 

On the hilltop across the Susquehanna again, and 
below Phoenix, is Mossy Pond. The reason for its 
name is apparent. Its location has been for years marked 
by the Mossy Pond tree, a great tree with a top like 
an inverted umbrella. It stiU towers far above its 
mates although now entirely dead. 

Going farther afield; over in the Otego Patent we 
have "Susie Hole." Who Susie was, we do not know, 
imless the Hole belonged to Susanna Dilwing who 
owned a large tract in the Croghan Patent. 

Frog Hollow, dear to the youth of fifty years ago, 
has vanished; it was in the village, to the east of 
Pioneer Street at the foot of the hill south of the Pres- 
byterian Church. There, as its name suggests, frogs of 
all sizes and ages could be found and separated from 



Hocal iBtomenclature 25 

their hind legs. It was full of cat-tails, too, and of 
all swamp -growing flowers. It was a most popular 
playground ; just water enough to keep alive frogs and 
pollywogs and thoroughly to wet the feet of its explorers. 

There are two names, not quite local, upon which an 
old map of 1790 throws an interesting light : "Cobles- 
kill" and "Schenevus." Both names seem to be de- 
rived from the streams near the towns ; in 1 790 one was 
known as "Cobus Kill," and the other as "Shineva 
Creek"; the former named for a land owner and the 
latter apparently the Indian name. 

"Twelve Thousand" is a heading in the social 
column of the local papers which puzzles and amuses 
many readers. I spent an afternoon trying to find a 
resident of this village who knew the exact location of 
the place, what it was and why it was so called. I met 
with no success and finally started out to hunt it up. 
After a delightful motor ride and many inquiries along 
the way I found that an indefinite tract of lonely land, 
sparsely inhabited and dotted with deserted houses, 
churches and burying grounds, lying along the heights 
east of Schuyler's Lake was, for some reason unknown to 
the inhabitants, called "Twelve Thousand." 

The country is beautiful and the views extraordi- 
narily fine but there seems to be little else to recommend 
it as a place in which to live and work. One elderly 
resident of whom we asked where "Twelve Thousand" 



26 ILtQtnhn of a J^ortJjem County 

was, stopped trying to repair a fence long enough to 
tell us that we were on it, but he couldn't give us any 
reason for the name. He added that he had just bought 
the farm which we were on and that he thought he must 
have had an attack of temporary aberration when he did 
so. I am afraid next winter will remove any doubt 
he may have as to his mental condition when he bought 
his new home. 

On my return I looked over the old maps to see if 
they threw any light on the name and found the ex- 
planation on a map of the Subdivision of the Great 
Croghan or Cooper Patent made about 1770; on it 
appears an irregular ell-shaped piece of land run- 
ning down near the east side of Schuyler's Lake and 
then west across its south end, and some distance 
below, bearing the inscription "V. P. Dow & Others, 
12000 A." 

It's a far cry from "Pig Alley" of fifty years ago to 
"Prospect Place" of to-day, and a more than doubtful 
improvement in name. Whoever made the change had 
a grim sense of humor as old Pig Alley running from 
the back of the brick Miller house at the corner of Lake 
and Pine streets to Hannah's Hill, had the least of a 
prospect of any alley, lane, or street in the village. In 
old times when it climbed the almost inaccessible side 
of Hannah's Hill to the opening in the woods cut for 
the view on the hilltop, it was a favorite Sunday after- 



ICocal iBtomenclature 27 

noon walk for the girls and boys who were able to escape 
the weekly stroll to the cemetery and back. From the 
clearing there was a wonderful view of the lake and its 
wooded easterly shore. 

Along this thickly wooded east shore of the lake were 
many places which now are little more than names: 
"Prospect Rock," with its beautiftil view, now grown 
up; "The Seats of the Mighty," on the ledge overlook- 
ing the lake just were "John Woods Clearing" began; 
a clearing made nearly sixty years ago out of spite, be- 
cause Edward Clark wouldn't pay an exorbitant price 
for the land after a threat by Wood to clear it and spoil 
the lake shore. Beyond this clearing is the Chalet 
Farm of Fenimore Cooper and Natty Bumppo's Cave, 
and just beyond its northerly line were the remains of 
the "Hermit's" House which was abandoned some sixty 
years ago ; only the cellar is left, but when I was a boy 
the house still stood in its little overgrown clearing. It 
already had begun to fall down, the floors were unsafe, 
and the name of the hermit forgotten. Farther north, 
and just above the Dugway on the hillside was the 
"Hogs Back" where two ravines came so close together 
that one could straddle the path, with a foot in each. 
Until quite recently the finest old pines on the lakeside 
stood here. 



THE FOUR CORNERS 

There are other four corners in Cooperstown ; many 
of them ; there are also three and two corners, and even 
one one corner; but it was about "The Four Corners" 
that the civic and much of the social life of the town 
centered after the first struggling years of its existence. 

The "two corners," opposite the entrance to the 
Cooper Grounds, claims the distinction of the center 
of things in earlier days. Near this spot was the old 
Indian village, as was shown by the existence of apple 
trees there ; here George Croghan built his log home and 
lived for a few years ; when General Clinton came he made 
his headquarters at this spot and, later, when William 
Cooper built his first house in Otsego, he selected this 
place, and the house stood where the gates to the Cooper 
Grounds are now, looking up Otsego Lake, while on 
the corners opposite were William Cooper's garden on 
the west and Andrew Craig's on the east. These 
gardens went through to Lake Street and ran east and 
west nearly three hundred feet. For a short time 
Andrew Craig was a partner in the settlement. He 
soon, however, sold out his interest to Cooper. It is 
probable, too, that Hartwick made his attempted 

28 



^tt Jfour ConterjS 29 

settlement here in 1762 or 63, before Croghan's time. 
The explanation of the popularity of the spot probably 
is that from the time of the Indians there was some kind 
of a clearing here ; it was high land near the water and 
above all fairly well hidden from the lake and the river. 

When the original village was laid out, in 1788, the 
westerly line ran north and south through the Four 
Corners where Main and Pioneer streets now intersect 
one another. These streets were then known as Second 
and West streets. It was really the westerly line of 
civilization. All traffic came from the east in those 
days, and so when the Red Lion Inn was built, on the 
southwest corner, it closed over half of the present 
Main Street, leaving only a narrow road running out 
into the wilderness. Over this trail went many of the 
settlers of places west of us. As the village grew, 
buildings lined this road and it became a narrowed 
Main Street, and so remained until the great fire of 
1862 destroyed them and the present street was laid 
out the full width of old Main Street. 

The Red Lion marked the dawn of the glory of the 
Four Corners. From its vantage point, across Main 
Street, it filled the eye of the approaching traveler. 
Its first sign is said to have been painted by R. R. 
Smith, a merchant from Philadelphia, and the first 
Sheriff of Otsego County. Opposite, on the southeast 
corner, the jail was built, and over it, entered by an 



30 Hegenbjf of a Movtf^txn Count? 

outside flight of steps on Main Street, was the Court 
Room. On the west side of West Street, opposite the 
jail, were the stocks and the whipping post. It is more 
than probable that where the youth of the village now 
gather to drink soda water the youth of those times 
gathered to throw vegetables at the unfortunate 
occupants of the stocks. 

Farther west, on the hillside by the present jail, the 
gallows stood, when needed. Thus all the imple- 
ments of Justice were gathered about the Four Corners ; 
and this notwithstanding Judge Cooper's gibe when 
the question of a county seat was first agitated: "The 
Court House for Cooperstown, the jail for Newtown- 
Martin (Middlefield) and the gallows for Cherry 
Valley." "The Heart of Midlothian" was only a jail; 
the heart of Cooperstown was encircled by all the 
insignia of justice and punishment, good cheer and 
death. 

Near, if not on the northeast corner, was the Blue 
Anchor — the rival of the Red Lion — ^frequented by the 
more sedate residents and kept by a retired sea captain. 

Where the flag pole stands now, the liberty pole used 
to stand and here public meetings were held and 
political speakers declaimed. 

The location should be dear especially to the learned 
professions; the Court House to the lawyers, the jail 
to the ministers, and the stocks to the doctors. For 



^'^t Jfour Comers 31 

here, from the steps of the jail, the first regular preach- 
ing was done by Rev. John MacDonald (Scotch 
Seceder), who was in jail for debt and on the limits by 
grace of a friend who bailed him; and one of the first 
occupants of the stocks was Dr. Charles Powers who 
so far forgot himself as to put an emetic in the punch 
supphed at a ball at the Red Lion, to which he had not 
been invited. He confessed, but was not forgiven, was 
put in the stocks, and afterwards banished. 

It must have been a very sick, or a very hard-hearted, 
crowd of young people who could resist Powers 's appeal 
for mercy, written with a "trembling hand," if not with a 
' ' penitent heart, ' ' and still existing. It reads as follows : 

Worthy & much Injured Gentlemen & Ladies 
From the Bottom of my Heart I sincerely regret my Pre- 
sumptious. Unhappy & Ungrateful Conduct towards you 
on the Evening of the 4th of Instant October — Gentlemen 
& Ladies will you do me the honour to believe me when I 
say that the Tart-Emetic I put into your Liquor was owing 
partly to Intoxication and partly to the Insinuation of the 
adversary of Men. It was not done from any Pique or 
Prejudice I had against the Company, for I acknowledge 
you are a Company of very Modest Respectable young 
Gentlemen and Ladies. I declare before God and his Holy 
Angels that what I did was done to have a little Sport and 
from no other Motive. I declare as solemnly that I had no 
Intention of Injuring the Health of any person, for had I 
wanted that I could have put in the Solution of Corrosive 
Sublimate, which is the strongest preparation of Mercury 



32 Hegentis; of a J^ortJjent €o\mtp 

which would have acted as a slow but certain Poison. Or I 
might have put in Liquid Laudanum, a Preparation of 
Opium, to such Quantity that it would have thrown you all 
into a profound sleep from which 'tis not probable all of you 
woiild have awaked both : of which Medicines are much 
cheaper than the Tart Emetic. It is needless Gentlemen 
& Ladies for me to be more particular. 

I now humbly ask the forgiveness of God, Angels & Men 

for my foolish conduct and hope and pray I may never be 

left to Conduct in such a Manner again. Gentlemen & 

Ladies, I ask the forgiveness of you all, and am willing to 

make all the retractation I am able to. 

And now. Gentlemen & Ladies, will you please to show so 
much of the forgiving Temper of the Saviour of Men as to 
forgive me and by thus doing you will lay me under the 
highest Obligations to study Gratitude to you so long as 
God shall spare my life. 

This from the penitent Heart and trembling hand 

of Charles Powers 

Cooperstown 

Oct. 8' 1 791 

Messrs. Joseph Griffin, Carr, White, Meachem &c &c. 

Messrs. Griffin, Carr, &c. &c. 

An Upset stomach surely dulls the sense of humor, 
as well as the spirit of forgiveness and the appreciation 
of great dangers escaped. I have no doubt that to 
many of the revelers the idea of the sleep without a 
wakening which might have followed the use of opium 
was not at the time wholly disagreeable. 

The letter opens a new vision of the Four Corners on 
that October night, a hundred and thirty years ago; 



TOe jFour Comers; 33 

the Adversary of Men, whispering in the ear of the 
country doctor to use opium as cheaper than Tart- 
Emetic; and had he yielded to the tempter, the Red 
Lion turned into a silent palace of sleeping beauties 
and frontier gallants. 

The political activities of the town centered at the 
Four Corners for years ; public meetings were held there 
or in the adjoining tavern or nearby "Washington 
Hall." At one of these meetings, held about 1808, the 
following resolution was adopted; slightly changed, it 
almost would have done for a meeting held a few years 
ago, with its reference to the "Liberty of the Seas" and 
to trusting our natural defense to * ' Gun Boats, Procla- 
mations, and Armies on Paper." 

Peace, and no Embargo Nomination, 
here take in the proceedings of the Meeting. 

Fellow Citizens, 

Since the most gloomy period of our Revolution the 
Liberty of our Country has not been in a more critical situ- 
ation. The Emperor of France began his political career 
by singing hosannas to the goddess of Liberty, he now rules 
the Continent of Europe at the point of the Bayonet; all 
Nations within his reach have by his intrigues and his Arms 
been subjected to his control: in pursuance of his plan of 
universal dominion but under the specious pretext of giving 
of the World the Liberty of the Seas, he issues decrees in 
direct violation of the Law of Nations and of his solemn 
Treaty with this Republic : in conformity with his policy if 
not in obedience to his mandates shall we then fellow Citizens 



34 HegenlJg of a i^ortfiem Count? 

by our nonintercourse and embargo Laws assist him in ob- 
taining the dominion of the Ocean ? the only barrier between 
him and universal Empire — shall we cont inue men in office 
who conduct the affairs of the Nation in secret conclave ? — 
who pursue measures which will inevitably bring our com- 
mon Country to poverty and ruin ? — who will not or cannot 
let us know the true cause of these measures — who say we 
are upon the eve of a War and commit our defence to Gun 
Boats, Proclamations and Armies on Paper — if not arouse 
honest Yeomanry of our Country with you under divine 
providence rests the Salvation of this Nation, if you are not 
now vigilent and at your posts we are undone — we must 
become a Nation of Slaves — arouse then before it is too late 
and change your Rulers — a change we conceive is absolutely 
necessary, the Candidates above nominated are honest Men 
possessed of talents and information and who are not pre- 
judiced in favour of any foreign Nation, they are American 
born and follow the precepts of the immortal Washington — 
our forefathers fought and bled and left us a precious Inherit- 
ance — Civil & Religious Liberty — let it not depreciate in our 
hands but be transmitted to Posterity as pure as we received it. 

Benjamin Gilbert Chairman 
Peter Mayhew Clark 

It was here, without a doubt, that on July 4th, 1794, 
the author read to a patriotic and appreciative audi- 
ence: 

AN HYMN 

Parent of nations! guardian pow'r! 

The source of ev'ry good ! 
Accept the homage of this hour, 

Devote to gratitude. 



Wi}t jFour Comers; 35 

Well may the song aspire to thee, 

When freedom is the theme, 
Whose service leaves the subject free 

In monarchy supreme. 

O may the nations learn of thee 

To rule and to obey ; 
Thou giv'st the subjects noblest plea, 

Thy laws the mildest sway. 

How sweet the meting of thy care ! 

How gracious each behest ! 
' ' Come ye, who faint and wearied are. 

And I will give you rest." 

Has not enough of tyrant sway 

Despoil'd the subject's peace? 
Bid him to freedom seek the way, 

Ah, bid oppression cease. 

Nor wanting be thy guiding hand 

To point th' important aim; 
May ne'er mad License rule the land 

With Liberty's fair name. 

And O ! by thy peculiar care, 

Columbia's guardian chief! 
Long to her wonted int'rests spare 

His labours and his life. 

May wisdom in our counsils reign. 

And union bind our hearts; 
Faction attempt her wiles in vain. 

Defeated in her arts. 



36 Hegentijs of a i^ortJjem Countj> 

Forbid that freedom's sacred fire, 

Thus Hghted on our shore, 
Should with abated flame aspire, 

Or ever slumber more. 

May firm allegiance e'er await 

Protection's mutual arm; 
This scorning pow'r unduly great, 

That free from false alarm. 

July 4th, 1794. 

It is written on a double sheet of letter paper, yellow 
with age, but is, unfortunately, unsigned. The hand- 
writing is that of Richard Fenimore Cooper, the eldest 
child of Judge Cooper, then in his nineteenth year. 
The wilderness seems to have turned men's thoughts 
to poetry. 

Between the Red Lion and the jail took place a 
famous wrestling match; Judge Cooper offered a lot of 
150 acres to any man on the settlement who could throw 
him. He was finally thrown and the lot conveyed to 
his conqueror. It was here, too, that as he was leaving 
the Court House after holding a term of Court, he was 
attacked by James Cochrane, a successful political 
rival. There are still in existence affidavits of onlookers 
declaring that Judge Cooper won the bout. The cause 
of the attack is said to have been a remark by Judge 
Cooper that Cochrane had "fiddled his way into Con- 



Wi)t Jfour Comerjs 37 

gress." It seems that while campaigning he fiddled 
for the young to dance evenings. 

Just west of the Corners was the field where the 
Militia paraded and was drilled when the martial 
spirit of the town was aroused before the War of 18 12; 
and doubtless it was the good cheer of the Red Lion, 
too liberally partaken of by the weary fighters, which 
inspired an unknown poet, probably an envious tax- 
paying civilian, to write these verses: 

The Country rings around with loud arlarms, 
And raw in fields the rude Militia swarms; 
Mouths without hands; maintain'd at vast expense; 
In peace a Charge, in war a weak deffence; 
Stout once a Month they march a blustring band, 
And ever, but in times of need, at hand. 
This was the morn when, issuing on the guard, 
Drawn up in rank and file they stood prepared 
Of seeming arms to make a short essay. 
Then hasten to be drunk, the business of the Day. 
The Cowards would have fled, but that they knew, 
Themselves so many, and their foes so few; — 

The local organization was a "Troop of Light 
Dragoons attached to Brig. General Henry McNeil's 
Brigade." At one time the troop had seventy members 
in all. Isaac Cooper and Jerome Clark were Lieuten- 
ants and at different times in command. 

The following receipt gives the name of the Command- 



38 Hegenbif of a i^orttiem Count? 

ing Officer in 1808 and a partial list of the property of 
the troop : 

Capt. Van Deer Veer purchased the 

Colors without painting $ 7.00 

Trumpet 10. — 

One half Clarinet 7. — 

French Horn belongs to 

the Company — given by 
Richard F. Cooper 

The above articles I give to Isaac Cooper. 
Cooperstown Jan. 4th, 1808. 

Fer"'- VanDerveer. 

A surviving inventory shows that there were three 
pair of spurs among the seventy horsemen. 

As the town grew, the character of the Four Corners 
changed, — the Post Office settled near it and the local 
printing and newspaper office. In the latter Thurlow 
Weed worked in his younger days. A short distance 
away was the home of Judge Nelson and opposite the 
house and office of Dr. Fuller. In time the Red Lion 
retired and the ' ' Eagle" tavern took its place until swept 
away by the fire of 1862; logically the Phoenix should 
have succeeded, but instead came business houses. 

The town became beautiful with age; Main Street 
was lined with great overhanging trees and the side- 
walks were broad and covered with pine planks. 

When the roads improved, the stages came and went 



tE^fje Jfour Comers! 39 

from the Four Corners, and the youth of the town, and 
always some of its elders, gathered at the Corners to meet 
the coming guest or "get the mail"; all eyes watched 
the western approach to see the stage swing into Main 
Street and come, with its four galloping horses, down 
to the Post Office. At first it came from Fort Plain 
twenty-six miles away, and later from Colliers — seven- 
teen — a long and weary ride as the writer remembers it. 

The Four Corners has had its share in the military 
glory of the town; past this point doubtless the silent 
red warriors of the Indian town went to join their tribes- 
men in the raids which made the Iroquois the most 
dreaded of all the Indian nations; from it the youth of 
the village went forth to the wars of 1812 and 1861, — 
some of them never to return. 

In 1 91 7 again the village furnished its splendid quota 
of volunteers not "too proud to fight," when all that 
was best of its youth answered the call to arms ; many 
of them to give their health or their lives in the camps 
and on the battlefields of France. 

It was a fine tribute to the fame of our village which 
Gabriel Hanotaux paid it when in announcing the entry 
of the United States into the World War, he declared, 
"The spirit of Leatherstocking still lives in the Amer- 
ican people," for the spirit of Leatherstocking surely 
haunts the happy hunting grounds of the woods and 
lake of Otsego. 



GHOSTS— OURS AND OTHERS 

It is not true, as some think, that ghosts walk only 
in the South. Our northern land has its "hants." 
Doubtless many a ghost welcomes the chance to walk 
in a cool climate, and perhaps this explains why hardly 
a house in Scotland is without at least one ghostly 
visitant. 

Be this as it may, north of us, at Ticonderoga, we 
have the ghost of the Indian maiden which used to be 
seen on the southern rampart, and which, with a scream, 
throws itself over to escape the pursuing officer. 

It was near this old fort, too, that the great ghost 
story of Duncan Campbell of Inverawe staged its last 
scene, when, on the eve of the battle in which he was 
killed, Campbell met on the bridge the wraith of his 
murdered kinsman, who, years before in the tower at 
Inverawe, had bade him good-bye until "We shall meet 
at Ticonderoga." 

Our local ghosts are less thrilling, but just as dear to 
us and just as good "hants." Curiously the ghosts of 
our village cling to the old part of the town. Perhaps 
they are stopped there by the river on their way east, 
for ghosts, Hke witches, cannot cross water. 

40 



^i)osit9i — 0uvsi anb 0t^tv9i 41 

The oldest of them is the Indian chief who for nearly 
a century and a half is known to have sat behind the 
old stone wall on River Street, and with his sturdy, if 
bony legs, many a time kicked it down. For five 
generations, from father to son, has the tradition been 
handed down, how, back of this wall, with chin on knees 
and hands clasped around shin bones sat, amidst his 
weapons and scanty pots and pipes, the skeleton of a 
great Mohawk Chief. 

Well I remember the terrors of the spot on dark and 
rainy nights. I suppose because he was an Indian was 
the reason why one's scalp had that queer feeling and 
the scalp lock seemed to rise and pull ! I never heard 
that he was seen to leave his grave, but I was told, 
as have been all the family, that no wall ever had stood, 
or ever would stand, at that place. It was the despair 
of successive owners, wall after wall was built and 
kicked down, until the present heavy one was put up, 
thick and strong enough, it was hoped, to withstand the 
feet of the old chief; but even it is yielding, as all may 
see. When its predecessor fell, in my youth, there, 
glaring at the fallen wall, sat the triumphant old chief, 
with bony chin on knees, cavernous eyes, and skinny 
legs ; there he was left ; and there he sits to-day. 

Ghosts must love company for another has been seen 
in the old stone house on the corner below. The house 
was built by Judge Cooper for his daughter Anne, when 



42 Hegenbfii of a i^ortfjem Count? 

she married George Pomeroy, well over a century ago. 
There she lived for many years and grew old. She was 
a little woman, and a determined one, and, tradition 
says, prided herself on her knowledge of how to bring 
up children. She put this knowledge to the test as is 
shown by the long and pathetic line of little Pomeroys, 
with their little headstones in the Cooper lot in Christ 
Churchyard. 

In time came shrinking fortunes until finally the little 
old woman reluctantly left the old house — but not for 
good. It passed into strange hands; but after years 
returned to the family, and evidently old Anne 
Pomeroy returned to it once more. It was only occu- 
pied by the living for short periods and at long intervals. 

On a November night, during one of these intervals, a 
friend of mine was expecting a guest by the evening 
train. The train came, but the guest didn't arrive at 
his host's, which was but a block from the old stone 
house. Finally he came, and explained the delay, by 
saying that he had been lost and would hardly have 
found his way had it not been for the nice old lady in 
the stone house on the corner below. The host, with 
true hospitality, said nothing until the visitor had been 
dried and warmed and fed, when by the fireside with 
their pipes, he asked about the old lady. His guest 
said that, after wandering about in the rain and fail- 
ing to find his host's, he went to an old stone house on 



the corner, which seemed to be closed, but on knocking 
repeatedly with the heavy knocker the door was opened 
by a little old lady in black with a candle in her hand 
who said, in answer to his inquiry if "B" lived there, 
"No, he lives in the house on the corresponding corner 
below"; and he added, "Here I found you." Nothing 
could convince the stranger that the house was and had 
for a long time been unoccupied. So after arguing as 
only smoking clergy can, they agreeed to settle the dis- 
pute by going to the house. The visitor led the way 
to the stone house. He admitted that it did look un- 
occupied and, after long and lusty knocking, which 
brought no lady, old or young, to the door, he declared 
himself puzzled, but still convinced that even the ghosts 
of Cooperstown would help a stranger. As both the liv- 
ing participants of this tale were clergymen its truth 
cannot be questioned. Then, too, passing glimpses of the 
old lady's face at the window have been caught from 
time to time. 

The other River Street ghost is even more distinctly 
a Cooper wraith, and it, too, clings to the neighborhood 
of the old Indian : 

The last of the older generation of occupants of 
Byberry Cottage died on a Good Friday, some years 
ago; she had been an invalid for years, was blind and 
had but one leg. She lived in a wheeled chair and her 
nurse pushed the chair to Christ Church for service 



44 Hegenbs! of a iStortfjem €onntp 

when the weather was good and her patient strong 
enough for the trip. During service on the day of her 
death, a Good Friday, a member of the congregation, 
who had the faculty which the Scotch call "second sight," 
was amazed to see the wheeled chair with its invalid 
occupant move past her up the middle aisle of the 
church. Noiselessly and slowly it went; but no one 
was pushing it. It seemed to move of its own volition. 
Usually it was turned when it reached the transepts 
and stood at one side during the service, but, on this 
Good Friday, it moved solemnly up through the choir 
and seemed to vanish in the altar itself. Immediately 
the one who saw the vision spoke of it. After service 
was over, it was announced that the invalid had died, 
shortly before. 

She was most devout and her greatest treat was to 
attend service in the church she loved. About By- 
berry Cottage, her home, cling many stories of its 
original occupants. One of them, Susan Fenimore 
Cooper, is still remembered as a saint. She gave her 
life, and most of her small fortune, to good works. It 
was she who founded the Hospital, the Orphanage, and 
the Home for Old Women, and, by her efforts kept them 
alive during the years of their struggling youth. She 
was very deaf and slight, but had what is now recog- 
nized as great psychic power. It was then called 
animal magnetism. She always had this mysterious 



(jifiositfif — 0nx9i anti ©t'i)^^ 45 

something and far back in the last century experimented 
with it at the Old Hall. 

Her power was most extraordinary and, for her 
friends and relatives, she would exercise it at any time. 
No material thing was too heavy for her to move. She 
frequently, as a demonstration of this, would move an 
inverted dining-table with a heavy man seated on a pile 
of books on it. The heaviest man in town, old Judge 
Sturgis, once took this strange ride. 

She was deeply religious and finally, a few years be- 
fore her death and after an evening of experiments, she 
heard strange sounds and thought that they and the 
spirits which she thought filled her room had come to 
warn her that the gift was of the devil. She refused 
ever again to exercise it and a great opportunity for 
scientific study was lost. 

There is the recollection of another shadowy visitor, 
which used to be seen in the old house which formerly 
stood opposite the Indian's grave. Well I remember, 
when sent there as a mere child to see the grown-up 
daughter of my dead uncle, Richard Cooper, seating 
myself with all the embarrassment of such an occasion, 
in his library chair, only to be told, with great excite- 
ment, not to sit in it as uncle Richard was occupying 
it! Truly a nerve-racking experience for a child and 
one which greatly enhanced the terrors of River Street. 

There were in my youth other ghosts, more nebulous, 



46 Ht^trdisi of a Mott^tm Count? 

which haunted certain houses; one of them was down 
on the river road, but it has been exorcised ; another, on 
the lake road, was closely allied to a sad tragedy of love 
and death. This one too has been laid, and as neither 
are family possessions and some tenants are so un- 
reasonable as not to appreciate rented or purchased 
ghosts, I pass them by. 

One other ghost there is, a connection, if not a rela- 
tive, and it I knew first hand. The story goes back 
well over a century to the earlier days of the settlement. 
One of the Coopers married a noted beauty of her day, 
whose family had come from Virginia to settle on the 
extreme northern portion of the so-called Cooper 
Patent. There are portraits of her still hanging on 
the walls of her one-time homes. They show a very 
handsome, but rather hard and proud woman, evi- 
dently of great will power. After a married life of 
several years her first husband died, in 1 813, at the age 
of thirty-seven. There had been much scandal about 
her husband's friend who owned and occupied a great ad- 
joining estate. The talk was not allayed when, immedi- 
ately after the funeral, the widow, Ann, went with her 
admirer to his home. She afterward told my father, a 
great favorite of hers, that she was married immedi- 
ately — but this has to do with a State-wide scandal of 
those days and not with ghosts. 

She had in time a son ; and then a second son, who on 



his father's death, took possession of the great house 
on the estate and married another celebrated beauty 
and brought her to his home. I doubt if any house is 
large enough for an ex-beauty of advanced years, and 
doubtless bad temper, and a reigning beauty, in the 
glory of her youth. 

Whatever the cause may have been, Ann was in- 
vited to leave and find herself a home elsewhere. This 
she did reluctantly, and moved into her father's house 
a few miles away. As she left, while the young people 
stood at the entrance and the horses waited, she turned 
and with lifted hand cursed the house she loved. ' ' You 
may drive me out now, but I shall return and haunt it 
forever" — were her parting words, as told to me by 
my father, and the tale runs, — unauthenticated, how- 
ever, — that she added : * ' May no woman ever be happy 
in it again." 

Tradition says that it had been a gay and somewhat 
wild life which had been lived there, and my mother 
has told me of the desperate gaming indulged in and 
how one of my great uncles, the builder and owner of 
"Woodside," after losing all his other property finally 
staked and lost his house. 

Years passed; the great house was almost abandoned. 
Occupied in part only and for brief periods it fell into decay 
and became a wonderful home for "hants." Its fame 
as a haunted house spread through the countryside 



48 HegcntJs; of a i^ortfjem Countp 

and even reached England. Again the heir married, 
and again the bride was a great beauty and a most 
gracious woman ; the house was once more occupied and 
gradually restored; children's voices resounded through 
its halls and great rooms and it saw a deHghtful social 
life. 

Kjiowing it and its owners from my youth, I was a 
frequent visitor for nearly half a century. Some thirty 
years ago I was one of a November house party com- 
posed, with one other exception, of members of the 
host's family. 

The available rooms, for the house as yet had not all 
been restored, were not over many and so when bed- 
time came, I found myself in a room far down one of the 
corridors which opened on the central court about 
which the house was built. My windows looked out 
on the dripping wooded mountainside. By the light 
of my candle I saw that the room was one of those not 
yet restored; the paper in places hung in strips 
from the wall ; the big mirror between the windows was 
without much of the silver backing ; the bare floor was 
uneven and a bit loose in spots. The door was at the 
end of one side and didn't fasten. At the other end of 
the room was the single bed and beside it, balancing 
the door, a great old-fashioned wardrobe, which with 
a dressing-table and a chair were all the furniture. 

After a look about I got into bed with the candle on 



^i}os>tsi — 0uti anti 0ti)tv9i 49 

the chair beside me, and fell asleep, having no fear at 
least of family ghosts. One keeps no track of time 
while sleeping, but I suddenly found myself wide awake, 
with every sense on the alert and that mysterious feel- 
ing, which most of us have had at times, that there was 
someone in the room. It was dark as the plague of Egypt 
and only the dripping trees and soughing wind could 
be heard, when, after I know not how long, I heard a 
slow footstep as of someone approaching from the 
corner of the room opposite the door. Slowly, deliber- 
ately, it came over the bare and creaking floor, toward 
the bed; again I noticed that queer sensation about 
my scalp lock which, as a boy, I felt when passing the 
grave of the Indian chief late at night. Flat on my 
back I lay, motionless, more anxious to escape atten- 
tion than to see who my visitor was, and dreading what 
the light of my candle might show. 

On came that awful, deliberate footstep toward the 
left of my bed, where the great wardrobe was, until 
finally, after years, it was beside the lower part of the 
bed. Then, as I lay motionless and expectant, slowly 
the bed clothes were drawn across my body, not as if 
pulled by a hand, but as if someone in passing too close 
to the bed had brushed against them and drawn them 
slowly off. 

Then silence in the room. I leaped from the other 
side of the bed and lighted my candle. The room was 



50 Hegenbs! of a J^ortfient Count? 

empty, and so was the wardrobe. The door was closed, 
and the bed clothes, drawn from the foot, were partially 
on the floor and partially on the bedside. 

ReaUzing that ghosts rarely come but once in a night, 
I got back into bed and fell asleep. Next day, I said 
nothing of my disturbed night until evening when we 
were all gathered about the fire in the dim old book- 
lined library. An English relative of the owner of the 
house, who was himself absent, remarked that it was 
known in England as haunted. This, of course, 
brought up the question of its ghosts for discussion and 
the widow of the last owner said, "Of course it's 
haunted," and told what she had seen and heard. One 
tale led to another until I turned to my hostess, a life- 
long friend and distant relative, and said, "M , I 

have often heard of the ghosts of this place but never 
until last night did I see one." Then I told my story, 
laughingly, I noticed my hostess looked serious and 
after a time suggested that if I would go with her 
through the long dark corridors and rooms she would 
get some cider; adding that all the talk of ghosts had 
made her a bit nervous. 

Hardly had the library door closed behind us when 
she turned to me and said, ' ' J , is that true ? " I as- 
sured her that it was absolutely; then she said, "It's 
strange, that is the haunted room, we never use it, but 
the house is crowded and I knew you best and knew 



^tofitsi—0nxfi anti 0ti)tx!i 51 

that you were familiar with the house and so put you 

there; it was old G 's dressing-room and my last nurse 

and A (her daughter) both declare that one even- 
ing they saw the figure of an old man in a yellow, red, 
and green wrapper go down the corridor ahead of them 
and turn into that room; they insisted on it and I sent 
the nurse away. Such a wrapper we have packed in 
the attic; it belonged to old G ." 

Well, the cider helped a little, but I didn't look for- 
ward to more nights in that room with anticipations of 
joy. I did my best to keep the party amused and make 
them forget bedtime, with fair success, but the un- 
avoidable hour came and again I found myself alone 
with my candle ; again my night was disturbed, but 
this time in a semi-comic manner and only indirectly 
by ghosts, so let that story go until another time. 

Many are the other tales of the old house told by its 
inmates; one tells how, in the dead of night, the piano 
in the vast drawing-room plays tirelessly ; another of the 
underground passageway, from the closet under the wind- 
ing stairs to the family vault, through which the dead 
passed back and forth, safe from exposure to the 
weather. I remember often seeing the black opening 
of the passageway, in the little closet, but have heard 
that some more venturesome soul crawled into it only 
to find it blocked against him after a short distance. 

In old times when a member of the family died, 



52 Hcsenbs! of a i^ortfiem Count? 

he didn't go far from the house to find a new resting 
place. Hardly more than a stone's throw from the 
front door is the family vault, built in the hillside where 
it falls to the lake ; it is a commodious resting place for 
the dead. Years ago it was open to living and dead 
alike ; the doors at either end of the passageway leading 
back into the hillside were unlocked and often open, 
and access to the vault itself, which lay deep in the 
ground, at right angles to the entrance, required only 
courage and curiosity. In it lay, under stone sar- 
cophagi, the builder and some of his family, while on 
the floor was the exposed coffin of one of the dead occu- 
pants. In those days it was the test of courage to go 
down into the vault, at midnight, with a candle only 
as light. I remember one youth who made the trip 
and failing to return promptly, we all went to look 
for him, and found him seated on the exposed and 
cracked coffin, smoking, while to add to his comfort 
and the cheerfulness of the occasion, he had built, with 
chips from the coffin, a small fire in the center of the 
vault. 

When the builder of the old house died, his bedroom 
and dressing-room, on the first floor, were closed, just 
as he left them. In time the floors gradually settled, 
the furniture moved toward the center, and finally 
everything went through into the cellar. We often 
opened the door to look at the collapsed floor with the 



carpet hanging on the broken beams and the furniture 
piled in the cellar. We used the drawing-room for 
hand ball and racquette, and the proprietor often used 
the entrance hall to store extra carriages in. The house 
was always full of interest and excitement for the young, 
with its air of mystery, its great size and beauty. One 
of our greatest architects, Stanford White, said of it, 
that it was the most beautiful country house in America. 

It had in those days too another attraction at least 
for boys ; it was overrun by small snakes, brown with a 
golden collar. One met them everywhere in the cor- 
ridors and rooms, and low boards were slipped in the 
bedroom doors to keep out those which wandered about 
the long halls. I remember once that a stranger who 
was talking with me in the library suddenly became 
silent and a look of terror spread over his face, I fol- 
lowed the direction of this fixed stare and saw curled 
under a desk, one of the larger of the snakes with head 
erect. 

As to my ghostly visitant the only question is of 
idenity : Whose wraith was it ? I like to think that it 
was old Ann's, come to prove to me that she was keeping 
the oath which she swore so solemnly, when nearly a 
century before she was ordered from her home, and of 
which she knew my father had told me. 

There is a vision sometimes seen from the hillside 
where Fynmere now stands; in the golden haze of 



54 Hegenbjf of a iBtortfjent County 

the October late afternoons, when our beautiful valley 
glows softly with yellows and reds, may be seen a row 
of horsemen, riding slowly up the road. There is a 
space in their ranks, now between the third and the 
fourth, and those of us who see them know for whom 
the space is kept by the silent riders. 

SOME OTHER GHOSTS 

There are other ghosts that I have known besides 
the Cooperstown ones; two are especially interesting, 
one I saw and the other I heard about very directly. 

Years ago, in the old Elk Street house, I awoke to find 
a woman standing by my bedside, about halfway be- 
tween the head and the foot. She was looking down 
on me intently. I always slept, in those days, with my 
door open so as to hear if anything happened in the 
house. Opposite one of my windows, which had no 
blinds or shutters, was an old-fashioned electric street 
light which thoroughly illuminated my room. 

I was a very light sleeper. On this occasion a 
feeling that something was in the room awakened me 
and I turned over; I had been lying with my face to 
the wall, and there was a woman, close to the bed, 
looking down on me. 

She was so real that I thought at once that it was my 
mother and spoke to her, saying, "Mother, what do 



you want ? " There was no reply and no motion ; still I 
thought it human and concluded it must be one of my 
sisters walking in her sleep, so rising on my elbow I 
grabbed at the figure to wake her up. Although I 
seemed to reach it I felt nothing, so reaching farther 
forward I made a long swing with my arm, but again 
caught nothing; then I reaHzed that my arm and hand 
had passed through the figure. It still stood motion- 
less gazing down on my face. I fell back on the bed 
with a gasp, and after returning the stare for a few 
seconds, for the first time noticing that I could see the 
heavy lines of a closet through the form, closed my 
eyes, and when I opened them again, it was gone. 

Still half convinced that it was a sleepwalker I jumped 
from bed and hurried out into the hall to overtake it or 
find who it was ; no one was there, and on going to the 
different rooms I found all the family safely in bed. 

Puzzled, I went back to my room and got into bed, 
then I noticed that the dark lines of the closet back of 
where the figure had been, and which I had seen 
through it, indicated that it had stood much higher 
than the ordinary human form. 

The other ghost is one of the kind now explained by 
men of science on the theory of telepathy. 

There were in Albany some years ago two men, of 
approximately the same age, one a sculptor and the 
other a painter. They were unhke in all except age 



56 ICegenbs! of a i^ortfjem Countp 

and dignity of appearance. The sculptor, P , was 

perhaps the greatest of his time in the country, pros- 
perous, honored, and exceedingly handsome. He was 
very tall with a ruddy complexion and wonderful white 

hair and beard. The painter, T , while loving his 

art, was unsuccessful. All his life he had struggled to 
accomplish what his friend had won easily; but failed. 
He was a smaller and a dark man. Almost every day 
for years they met in the local art store, and in its gal- 
lery talked over many things and criticized the pictures. 

I knew them well, especially P , who came from 

Otsego County. Quite frequently I stopped in and 
talked with them. 

Finally a morning came when P was not there. 

T waited; and came again; but P never re- 
turned to the gallery, and, after a few days, T also 

disappeared. He lived in the country some miles 
below Albany. 

About the time of their usual meeting one morning, 

the news came that P had died at nine o'clock. 

The proprietor of the store took a horse and wagon and 

drove to T 's house to tell him of his friend's death. 

Poor T was lying ill on his bed and when he saw 

the art dealer come into the room, he said, "I know 

what you have come for, P is dead. He died 

at nine o'clock this morning." The dealer, surprised 
that anyone should have hurried out to break the news, 



^f}O9itsi—0utii anb 0ti}tvfi 57 

answered : ' ' Who told you ? ' ' T replied : " He did ; 

at nine o'clock this morning, he came into the. room 
and stood by my bed, where you do now, and said to 

me: 'T , I'm going; I have come to say good-bye 

to you.'" 

This was told to me at the time by the art dealer. 

T lingered for a while and then joined his more 

successful friend. 

There is at Cooperstown another house with its 
ghostly visitant, unless recently exorcised. It is the 
oldest brick house in the village where, years ago, the 
owner smothered his wife with a pillow, and where, 
when conditions are right, muffled screams and groans 
were frequently heard. 

I may have forgotten some of my genial ghost friends ; 
if so, I ask their forgiveness, and trust that they will 
quietly ignore the oversight. 

Of course there are the Witch Trees, but they are for 
the children rather than the grown-ups. Here and 
there one sees them — tall and lanky; and always pressing 
toward the east. They look like skinny old women, 
bent with age and the constant endeavor to drag their 
heavy feet eastward. For years I have watched one, 
but as yet have not seen it make any progress. Per- 
haps they are doomed to hopeless and endless endeavor 
as a punishment for some crime when they were living 
women. 



58 ICcgcnbfii of a iTtortfjcnt Countj> 

Clinging to some of the houses and localities are 
stories of other things than ghosts which will bear re- 
peating here ; as the tale of the Wandering Jew and the 
stories of the gay revelers whose wTaiths must still 
frequent some of the older houses. 

There was great religious toleration in these frontier 
settlements. It has been said truthfully, that in the 
colony of New York no one ever was persecuted for 
his religious belief. Here, at Coopersto\Mi, all de- 
nominations lived in harmony and worshiped together 
for a time — and then were buried in the same graveyard. 

For years in the northwest comer of the Presbyterian 
burying ground lay a Jew. His stone bore an inscrip- 
tion in Hebrew and the date of his death was given in 
the Hebraic Chronolog}'. Who he was, when he was 
buried, and why he selected the coldest comer of the 
blue Presbyterian churchyard to rest in no one knew. 
Nothing is known about him. For a century he lay in 
his neglected grave, visited occasionally by a curious 
resident or an inquisitive stranger in search of the 
famous epitaph : 

"Lord she is thin,^ and not our own 
Thou has not done us wTong 
We thank the for the precious loan 
Afforded us so long." 

' Unfortunately, " Susannah the wife of Mr Perez Ensign who died 
July i8th 1825" was very thin. 



His presence among the Presbyterians always excited 
wonder and the inscription the interest of tourist and 
resident alike. One morning his grave stone was missed 
and all evidence of his long rest in the burying ground 
had vanished ; a careful search was made but not a trace 
of it could be found and to this day the mystery of its 
disappearance has never been explained — unless he 
was the Wandering Jew, and after resting his allotted 
period in our graveyard picked up his stone and 
started on his restless way. 

The contrasts of life are great; from the graveyard 
we go to the country house of a century ago ; about the 
time when the Jew appeard in the churchyard, three 
families arrived from the Bahama Islands and settled 
on land along the Susquehanna, south of the village. 
They each built a large and fine colonial house. Years 
later one of these was destroyed by fire and one was 
abandoned and is now a mere shell which a few more 
winters unll level with the ground, but the third still 
stands looking across the valley, with its classical 
portico. It is practically as it was a century ago — 
dignified and beautiful. 

The builder, tradition says, ran away with his em- 
ployer's daughter and they built their new home here. 
She was a large woman and lazy, and disliked the effort 
of climbing stairs, so the house was built almost en- 
tirely on one floor; only a rudimentary second floor 



6o ILtQtntm ot a J^ortfjem Countp 

with rooms for servants. The lower floor was most 
spacious. The builders were rich and gay ; life was one 
long round of riding, gaming, dancing, and drinking, in 
which young and old from the village, two miles away, 
joined with the nearer neighbors. 

The present owner, who has lived in the house for 
over sixty years, relates many anecdotes of its early 
history; the guests generally arrived on horseback, or 
in sleighs, among them many a man who was, or be- 
came, famous throughout the country. The stakes 
were high and the gayety fast and furious; fortunes 
changed hands in that innocent-looking colonial house. 
The hostess who grew larger and slow of movement sat 
in the big drawdng-room and, that nothing might escape 
her attention, had a window cut through into one of 
the two dining-rooms where cards were played and from 
which a stairway led to the wine cellar. From this 
vantage point she kept track of the game and the wine ; 
she was no spoil sport, however, and left the gamesters 
unmolested till far on toward dawn there was mounting 
of horses and gay -pinner and sad loser galloped away. 



A GRAVEYARD ROMANCE— A TRAGEDY 
AND A SCANDAL 

Near the easterly line of the Cooper burying ground 
are two graves, side by side, one of Hannah Cooper and 
the other of Col. Richard Cary. 

The visitor in reaching them must be careful not to 
fall over either Mr. or Mrs. Avery Averell or over one 
of the long row of little Pomeroys. The Avery s are 
strangers to the people among whom they rest, and 
why they lie where they do, no one to-day knows; so is 
Col. Richard Cary, one time on General Washington's 
staff, but the reason of his presence is known. 

For years the tomb of Hannah Cooper bore only the 
verses engraved on it, and written by her father. Judge 
Cooper. The name and date were added later. Hannah 
was his favorite daughter; she was, according to tradi- 
tion and contemporary writings, talented, beautiful, 
and good. She lived with her father when he attended 
the Sessions of Congress at Philadelphia and made 
many friends and had many admirers. 

In the autumn of the year 1800, she, with one of her 
brothers, either William or Richard, started from her 
home to visit the Morris family at Butternuts. The 

61 



62 HegentifiS of a Movt^txn Count? 

ride was about twenty-four miles over hill and dale, and 
almost entirely through the woods. As about the only 
way of travel in the wilderness was on horseback she was 
an expert horsewoman, but when her horse was brought 
out and proved to be a thoroughbred, recently imported 
by her father, she expressed some reluctance to ride 
him. Of course her brothers twitted her with timidity 
and she yielded and rode off. 

All went well until they were approaching the Morris 
place. Perhaps the long ride had tired her or made her 
careless. The horse shied violently, it is said at a dog, 
threw her by the roadside, and broke her neck. The 
spot is still marked by a shaft of marble, three sides of 
which are devoted to her virtues. 

This monument was sent all the way from Phila- 
delphia and was the tribute of an admirer. In the 
lapse of time his name was forgotten and I have heard 
this post-mortem attention attributed to a number of 
Hannah's friends, among them Moss Kent, but the 
letters which are set out in another article in this volume 
show that the monument was sent by J. H. Imlay of 
Allentown, N. J., by whom, I think, the inscription on 
the south face was written; those on the other sides 
were the work one of a Mrs. Meredith and the other of a 
Miss Wistar, both of Philadelphia; the monument, a 
monolith, is, notwithstanding its one hundred and 
twenty years, in a condition of perfect preservation. 



^ (^rabeparb Romance 63 

The inscriptions which it bears I have set out at length 
with the letters relating to it. 

Her brother turned about and rode back to Coopers- 
town, bringing the news of the accident. On his 
arrival Judge Cooper and Moss Kent, a great ad- 
mirer of Hannah's, and some of the family mounted 
and started at once for Morris. It was late; the 
moon was full and the country ablaze with autumn 
colors. My father has often repeated to me the 
story of that long and silent ride as told to him by 
his father, to whom it had been related by Moss 
Kent. 

Poor Hannah! She was brought back to her home, 
and laid temporarily on the old Queen Anne table now 
in the dining-room at Fynmere, which had been brought 
from Richard Fenimore's home in Rancocus, New 
Jersey, and subsequently became the library table at 
Otsego Hall. 

In due time she was buried under the stone bearing 
these verses by her heart-broken father: 

Adieu! thou Gentle, Pious, Spotless, Fair, 
Thou more than daughter of my fondest care, 
Farewell ! Farewell ! till happier ages roll 
And waft me Purer to thy kindred Soul. 
Oft shall the Orphan and the Widow'd poor 
Thy bounty fed, this lonely spot explore, 
There to relate thy seeming hapless doom, 
(More than the solemn record of the tomb, 



64 ICcQcnti.s of a J^orttcni Countp 

By tender love inscribed can e'er portray, 
Nor sculptured Marble, nor the Plaintiff lay, 
Proclaim thy Virtues thro' the vale of time) 
And bathe with grateful tears thy hallowed shrine. 

Among her elderly admirers was Col. Richard Cary, 
the father of the Ann Cary who married Richard 
Cooper and later George Clarke. \Mien the gallant 
\'irginia Colonel came to die, he wliispered to his 
mourning family that he had one last request to make 
— "Bury me beside Hannah Cooper; she was the best 
woman I ever knew and my only chance of Paradise is 
getting in on her skirts." 

This may have been a shock to his wife and family 
but they respected his wish and buried him where he 
still lies — close beside Hannah. \Miether or not he 
accomplislied liis purpose only Eternity can tell the 
reader. 

Here the romance ends — but among the books which 
have sur\-ived the \"icissitudes of over a century and a 
quarter of attic life, is a rather large calfskin-covered 
volume inscribed "Miss Coopers Commonplace Book." 
It is dated I7gi and on the flyleaf is written "Miss H. 
Cooper. Cooperstowii." 

Nearly three hundred pages are filled "with poetry and 
prose copied or written with great care by the owner, 
and which by their character show the turn of mind of 
Hannah from earlv vouth until her death. Then fol- 



^ (^rabcparb l^omancc 65 

lows a memorial entry in a new handwriting and after 
it copies of a number of letters of condolence written 
to Judge Cooper, and several poems contributed by 
mourning, but now unknown friends. It was an age of 
formality and even the expressions of grief and sympathy 
were formal and artificial, although doubtless sincere. 

From these expressions of sorrow, typical of the times, 
I have selected the following to show that Hannah had 
many friends and mourners besides Colonel Cary, and 
to show the then prevailing method of expressing grief 
and sympathy : 

In Memory of the Late Amiable H. C. 

Hast thou not seen the lucid ray of Even ! 

Far, in the west, diffuse its modest ray; 
And mark'd the bright, Cerulean beam of Heaven 

Cheer and irradiate the Orient day? 

Hast thou not seen Religion's powerful aid 
Fresh luster to the brow of youth, impart? 

And Charity, in Cooper's form portray'd. 
Warm and ameliorate the human heart! 

Yes — thou hast seen, meek gratitude express'd, 
Where beauty (lowly bends) to Virtue's shrine 

And Pity's pure oraison, address'd 

To Him, who bade Ethereal glories shine. 

Wrap'd in the sable garniture of Woe, 

Where pendent Cypress shades funereal gloom — 

The muse, her plaintive requiem, taught to flow, 
And Friendship wept, at Cooper's silent tomb. 



66 Ueeenbs! of a i^ortfiem Countp 

'Tiuas Thine, to animate life's swift career, 
Mild, modest, artless, innocently gay — 

'Twas thine, to fill an higher, nobler sphere, 
With sainted spirits in the realms of day. 

For thee sweet maid ! resplendent beams of thought, 
Wisdom's rich lore, by seraph's hands were given, 

Thy spotless soul, the pure effulgence caught, 
It sparkled, was exhaled, and went to Heaven. 

BY A YOUNG LADY. 
Philadelphia, September 26th, 1800. 

Death, ere thou has killed another, 
Fair, and learned, and good as she 
Time shall throw a dart at thee. 

On the loth instant, departed this life, Miss Hannah 
Cooper, eldest daughter of Wm. Cooper, Esq. of Coopers- 
town. Her death was occasioned by a sudden fall from her 
horse, on the road between Cooperstown and the Butter- 
nutts, about one mile from the latter place — 

The merit and accomplishments of this excellent young 
lady, who was universally respected, as she was extensively 
known, combined with the melancholy circumstances of her 
untimely exit, will long be remembered with mingled ad- 
miration and regret, by all who had the happiness of her 
acquaintance. 

Her friends, her neighbors, and the forlorn objects of 
her compassionate bounties, will forever cherish, with avari- 
cious sadness, the endearing memory of her exemplary 
virtues — Her inconsolable Parents ! . . . 

But who can paint their sorrow ! 

Can imagination trail amidst its vast creation, hues so sad ! 



^ (§raljeparti l^omance 67 

Cease, woe struck mourners, check the trickling eye, 
Full sacrifice enough to fortune's given ; 
The treacherous earth, that smiles so seemingly, 
Teems big with death, and death's the debt of Heaven, 
Waste not in idle grief the silent hour, 
If shielded virtue gard the honest breast. 
Surrendering sorrow sheaths his blunted power. 
Death hides his sting and droops his baffled crest. 

Rome, Sept. 29th, 1800. 

Lines on the Death of an amiable and beautiful young lady 
at on Sept. loth, 1800 — by Mr. 

Death took it in his empty skull 
He'd be a beau on next birth-day, 
And needs a nosegay he must pull 
To make him up a choice boquet. 

To Beauty's garden straight he hied. 
With sweeping scythe her flowers to mow; 
"Your trouble spare" the owner cried, 
" By my advice to Otsego go. " 

Tho' here fond bees for sweets may swarm. 
Their tasteless buzzings do not mind 
For there each grace that sense can charm. 
In one fair blooming flower you'll find. 

Quick to this lovely fragrant rose 
His icy fingers he applies; 
Death's finest of fine birth-day beaux, 
For in his breast Hannah dies ! 



68 Hegenbsi oC a Motti^txn Countj» 

Her bloom's bequeathed to blushing morn, 
Her fragrance with the zephyrs blends ; 
But ah ! to whom is left the thorn ? 
Sharp in the bosom of her friends. 

Miss Hannah Cooper. 

Sept. 24th, 1800. 



My dear Friend 

The awful and calamitous visitation with which it has 
pleased the Almighty to afflict you and your dear Family, 
reached me yesterday. 

To renew your grief by any offer of consolation is a hard 
task, but I cannot on this mournful occasion entirely sup- 
press the feelings of friendship — To say that I sympathize 
with sincerity is but a faint expression of my distress, no 
person acquainted with the dear deceased, could hear the 
melancholy tale with composure — but for me who pos- 
sessed a more than common friendship for her, it was dis- 
tressing in the extreme, mine was an affectionate and 
reverent friendship founded upon a long and intimate ac- 
quaintance with her uncommon worth — There is one 
circumstance, my friend which must be reflected upon with 
comfort — Her life — Her amiable and blameless life was 
such as to secure her an everlasting portion of that happy 
state, of which she was often thoughtfull — May we while 
we regret her absence endeavor to imitate her conduct. 

The subject grows to painfull for me — Indulge me in 
one last affectionate and sincere Tear — it is a small tribute 
to her blessed memory. 

Adieu. 

Ric'd R. Smith. 

Philadelphia, September 20th, 1800. 



(^rabej>artr ^Romance 69 

New York, 9 mo. 30th, 1800. 

Dear Friend — 

I know it is but little a friend can say that may have much 
tendency to aleviate such pain and affliction, that the and 
thy family experience, in the loss of your dear Hannah — 
its but a few days past, since I read the afflicting account — 
My regard and love for her was such, I feelingly participate 
in mourning the loss of her. 

The present fall I propos'd seeing Cooperstown, one of 
the pleasing circumstances I contemplated in the intended 
visit was to see and be with her, and the rest of the family — 
Thee knows, & I know, its much easier for the Tongue 
or Pen to speak on so affecting a subject than for the 
heart of the afflicted to experience what is said — however 
this we are confident of "that a sparrow falls not with- 
out his knowledge, much less man" — We see but little 
ahead, nay in comparison, none, the end of poor dear 
Hannah is extremely afflicting, but we know not wether 
ever after she would have been so well prepared for the 
great change — 

I am sure her Father & Mother, with the rest of her rela- 
tions, have one consolation among many, in the remem- 
brance of her, which now must be the greatest of all, that is 
"she was a good girl, & I doubt not is gone to rest, a com- 
fortable hope of which will operate on the mind, so as in 
part to aleviate extreme mourning — not looking back but 
forward, hoping that we may be thus prepared, that when- 
ever it is our lot to bid adieu here, we may be likewise 
ready — 

Farewell my dear friend, believe me to be 
thy very affectionate, 

J. Pearsall. 



70 Uegentis; of a i^ortfjem Countp 

My dear Friend 

Just as I was determined to write you with every senti- 
ment of gratitude, Acknowledge your friendly letter was 
most sothing & flattering to my heart, the tender interest 
you appeared to take in my affairs, & the prudent & judi- 
cious council you gave, all confirmed the opinion I had long 
nourished of your Philanthropy & Friendly disposition to 
my much lamented Friend & all his family — Just as I had 
commenced my letter, Betsy with a most dejected counte- 
nance entered with a newspaper, exclaiming, Oh Mama 
poor Miss Cooper! What about her, oh read that most 
direful account — 

How shall I address you on a subject so painful, m}'' heart 
has from that moment sympathized with you, it revived 
all those painful ideas that the loss of m}'' beloved son gave 
me. Yes m}^ friend, I felt for you, I mourn your loss, She was 
a jewel of immense value to you & her friends — Yes it is 
over, the painful conflict is past, & she Blessed shade is at 
Peace. What abundant consolation will a retrospect of her 
short life afford you — and soon will you be convinced that 
she is far better off, than those who have the debt still to 
discharge — Soon must all, that now bask in the sunshine 
of prosperity, submit to the unrelenting hand of death, 
she has done her duty and will be rewarded — her character 
is sealed — nothing can now happen to disturb her or your 
repose. 

The friend that weeps ore the grave of his departed 
friend this day, most assuredly shall, in a very short time 
be succeeded by his mourning relatives, there is a constant 
succession, we tumble in, one after the other, & yet mourn 
as if we had a lease for our lives — Death must not be 
viewed as the greatest evil — evil certainly no — We are 
deprived 'tis true of some good, but let us always act ration- 
ally & then we shall view every point on its proper ground — 



ja (Srabe|»artr 3Romante 71 

Excuse the liberty I. have taken in addressing you at this 
period, when your heart is still bleeding, I well know few 
people can pay acceptable visits to the afflicted, but a 
sympathy so powerful as I felt for you appeared to do away 
all ceremony & I felt myself compelled to offer you some 
consoling ideas — if anything I can say will for a moment 
mitigate the severity of your grief, I shall be rewarded for 
the anxiety the doubts have occasioned. 

Her reign was short, & what is the product of the longest 
& best of lives, are they not evils strewed in every human 
path, can we traverse any without difficulty? No — a long 
life will evince the truth of this — the best & most fortunate 
can only obtain a character which time will efface — nothing 
permanent here — let us be wise in time & act justly on all 
subjects — then may we enjoy the blessings which are in 
our power. 

May God bless you & yours, with health & every earthly 
blessing — is the sincere prayer of your Friend, 

Anne Francis. 

Philadelphia, 
October 4th, 1800. 

It is evident from the following and other letters, 
that Hannah had a premonition of death; perhaps she 
was what the Scotch call "fey." 

My dear friend 

On the 23rd Instant, I reed, a letter from Mr. A. Ten- 
broeck, containing the truly melancholy and distressing 
intelligence that Miss Cooper — alas ! is no more ! — this is an 
event, which at any time, and under almost any circum- 
stances would be very afflicting, and a loss irreparable, but 
the manner in which it has come, renders the same painful, 
distressing and afflictive, beyond imagination — In such 



72 ^cgcntis of a i^ortticm Cmtntr 

case what can I offer, or say. by way of consolation? Indeed 
I have nothing — ^it would be well for me if I had — for verily 
I am not without much occasion for it m\-self — to say that 
yoirr daughter was good and amiable, would be only sa\-ing 
what is well known to yourself, and all who had the happi- 
ness of her acquaintance, and would only perhaps be adding 
acaimulated distress to the severest atfiiction. In one 
sense, this may be true — but in another it must be a source 
of inexpressible comfort and satisfaction and thereby afford 
some relief to your sorrow, and consolation under your 
bereavement — that while her great goodness and amiable- 
ness endeared her to all her acquaintances, they have made 
her meet for the Kingdom of Heaven, and prepared her to 
change her abode (and that in an instant, with hardly a 
momentan' pause"* from among mortals — a state at best 
of \-icissitude, pain and sorrow, for an abode among the 
Blessed. Our hss is truly h^r gain — As sure as this con- 
sideration can assuage your own, and the grief of the Family 
on this melancholy catastrophe, and offered ground of con- 
solation, and surely it is of all others the greatest — it must 
be abundantly yours — During my \-isit ^*ith you last 
simimer, which I must e'en think of with pleasure, tho' now 
mixed with much alloy, in some of my walks with Miss 
Cooper — once or twice in particular, when passing through 
that lonely mansion back of your house, of which she has 
now, alas! become an inhabitant, I have heard her express 
the same sentiment whicli Mr. Tenbroeck mentions in his 
letter to me. which she had expressed in conversation with 
him and some others — but a few days before, na\- but a day 
or two before her unhappy fate, of her belief or impression 
that her abode in this world would not be of long contiimance 
— in one instance her words in answer to an observation of 
mine were — "if it should be as you say. thirty or forty years 
— what a moment — what a span — what a vapor — how in- 



^ ^raucpavtj Romance 73 

sipiificant compared with that state of existence which 
awaits me hereafter, liow important that, of how Httle mo- 
ment this." Amiable woman — Too soon — alas! for 
thy friends, has thou realised thy apprehensions! Thy 
mild and gentle spirit has taken its flight from the present 
imperfect and chequer'd state of things to one more con- 
genial with thy native purity, excellence & \'irtue. It is 
ours to lament Hanah's death — tho' death to thee is great 
gain. My friend — what a dream — what a meteor — what 
a vapor — in the expressive language of your daughter, this 
state of things really is — all that malces it desirable is. the 
society and enjoyment of our friends — and we scarce find a 
friend when death or some unfortunate occurence or other 
snatches them from our embrace — so it is. It is our duty 
to acquiesce — but I am only paining yours, and my own 
feelings afresh, by recalling to recollection in so particular 
manner, the magnitude of our loss. Accept my sincere 
s\niipathy and condolence in the affliction of you and yours, 
and of my best regards and good wishes. 

Farewell, God bless you, 

Yours &c. 

J. H. Imlay. 

Alentown, September 27th 
1800. 

New Jersey. 



De.vr Sir, and unfortunate friend. 

It is impossible for me to describe to you, the keen anguish 
and sorrowful heart on the fatal news of the supreme dis- 
pensation of Heaven upon your \-irtuous. worthy and truly 
lovely daughter. My trembling hand dare hardly pre- 
sume to address itself to you on this truly melancholy event 
— but I rely entirely on your friendship to me. 



74 Hegenbs! of a iBtortfjent County 

Permit me therefore, my dear Sir.to mingle my abundant 
tears, and sincere ones, with yours, and the desolated family. 
Alas ! could I expect to hear such a dreadful recital, while I 
was enjoying silently, and within myself, the sweet hope of 
beholding once more — and within a short time — that un- 
commonly amiable mortal — could I but express myself in 
truer terms, or more sympathetical words, you would be 
convinced of the sincere part I take with you, and your dear 
family, on that unexpected, horrible ! event — 

Be ye all convinced of my sincere sorrow, for your loss. I 
remain with true sentiments of high esteem, for you all. 
Your respectful servant 

and afflicted friend, 

HOUDIN. 

Albany, September 15th, 1800. 

Upwards of four score years passed over the village. 
The changes are many ; success crowns the work of some, 
and failure is the fate of others; famihes become pros- 
perous and prominent and others long established in 
the front rank of the social life of the town suffer vicissi- 
tudes and are forced to part with their old homes and 
materially modify their manner of life. Into these 
years are woven many an event of interest, some tragic, 
some amusing, and some scandalous, but all vital to the 
actors. From them I have selected two for repetition 
here; one a local tragedy and the other a state-wide 
scandal. 

The tragedy is comparatively recent ; while the scan- 
dal dates back a century and more : 



ja <§rabej>arti i^omance 75 

About forty years ago a rich Southerner bought 
Lakelands, remodeled it, and proposed to make it his 
home. His family consisted of a wife, son, and daughter. 
The boy was a little wild. At this time there was liv- 
ing in the stone house near the head of the lake a very 
attractive young woman with whom the son fell desper- 
ately in love. She would, however, have none of him. 
He persisted in his attentions until one beautiful Octo- 
ber day he persuaded her to let him row her across the 
lake to Hyde Hall. All the way he urged her to marry 
him. As they reached the dock, he again asked her, 
adding: "This is the last time." She persisted in her 
refusal although he declared that he would shoot him- 
self unless she accepted him. He stepped from the 
boat, and standing on the dock blew out his brains. 
Not long after, the house was vacated by the family, 
sold, and never since has been occupied. Is it the 
shadow of this tragedy which hangs over it? Ever 
since it has been known as haunted. What form the 
"hant" appears in I cannot tell you, as no one living 
to-day ever spent a night in the house. There it has 
stood, gray, gaunt, and abandoned, gazing over the lake 
toward the scene of the tragedy. 

Not long afterwards the boy's sister married and 
within a year died. One morning, while driving her 
team of horses at the Four Corners, the unhappy 
mother dropped the reins and fell back dead. Her 



76 ILegenbsi of a J^ortfjent Countp 

husband lived on for a time by himself until one day 
he was paralyzed and shortly died. Thus, in a few 
years, what seemed to be a prosperous family had dis- 
appeared entirely, and now almost is forgotten. 

The scene moves back over a century; Richard 
Fenimore Cooper, who died in 1813, is living with his 
beautiful wife, Ann Cary, and a family of sons. Among 
his intimate friends is George Clarke, the builder of 
Hyde Hall. The relations between Ann and George 
were the subject of some scandal before Richard died. 
Very shortly after his funeral Ann went off with her 
admirer. She told my father that they were married 
at once ; but the scandal was not quieted by the rumor 
that the new husband had a wife and family in Eng- 
land; as to them she said that he had secured an 
American divorce before she married him. 

Some seven or eight months after the death of Rich- 
ard, Alfred Clarke was born. Was he a Clarke or a 
Cooper? That was the question which convulsed the 
society, not alone of Cooperstown, but of much of the 
State for years. His mother declared that he was 
Richard's son, but as he was born in lawful v^^edlock he 
was legally a Clarke, the son of George. 

In time another son was born and named for his 
father, George. Alfred was one of my father's best 
friends. As time went on, he grew more and more like 
the Coopers until he became convinced that he really 



!^ #ratiej>arb l^omance 77 

was a Cooper, and he called himself Alfred Cooper Clarke. 
That he was not a Clarke seemed to be accepted by his 
legal father, as when he died he left Hyde Hall, and 
most of his property, to his second son George. It was 
a curious case of dual personality, for when some of the 
EngHsh Clarke property passed to the eldest son of 
George Clarke, it was Alfred who went to England and 
got it as the eldest son born in lawful wedlock. 

When his mother, Ann, died, she left her property to 
Alfred; and it was Alfred's conviction that he was a 
Cooper which led him to leave Swanswick and other 
property to Theodore Keese and me on certain con- 
tingencies; and it was the blunder of a lawyer which 
prevented our inheriting it, as all the conditions which 
attached to our intended inheritance were fulfilled. 



SOME ABANDONED HOUSES 

After a day spent in dri\'ing over the more secluded, 
but very beautiful, by-waj^s of the County, one is im- 
pressed by the disappearance, almost accomplished, of 
three of the most prominent features of old-time country' 
life; the country gentleman; the countn,' tavern and the 
countrj" church. Perhaps they were so closely allied 
that the vanishing of the first destroyed the other two. 

All over the countryside are to be found the aban- 
doned homes of one-time prosperous farmers; and fre- 
quently the more pretentious houses of the well-to-do 
land owner; the windows gone; the doors open and 
sv^inging in the wind ; and the flowers still growing and 
running wild in the old-time gardens. 

The number of such abandoned places is appalling. 
Each year some of them either collapse under the at- 
tacks of the weather or bum up. In many of the more 
remote spots nothing is left but a cellar and a few rose 
bushes and apple trees, and great lilac bushes. Gradu- 
ally the rural population is shrinking to a strip of land 
along the better highways in the valleys. 

Among the houses still standing are some of impor- 
tance in their day ; the old stone house at Butts Comers ; 

78 



"Col. Dunbar's house," a little to the west, which must 
have been years ago a beautiful place, with its brick 
main building and huge wooden additions, and great 
trees on either side of the entrance. Now only the 
brick part stands, trembling to its fall; the great trees 
are only stumps ; while the wings can be traced, amidst 
the briars, by the cellar walls and ruins of the huge 
central chimneys. 

There are still left some fine old frame colonial houses 
here and there; one near Stoney Lonesome; one on the 
Colliers road and others far back in the hills, among 
them the one near Geoweys Pond. Their days are 
numbered ; the best of workmanship and the finest ma- 
terial, unaided by man, soon yield to the elements in our 
northern climate. 

One wonders why they were built ; and again why they 
were abandoned. It is easy to see, in the imagination, 
the one-time inhabitants; the gardens and living- 
rooms gay with youth; the playing children; the pros- 
perous men and women of middle life; and the older 
ones with their knitting and books by the fireside and 
on the porch. Where have they gone and why ? Have 
conditions of life changed so as to eliminate forever 
the country home ? 

When these great houses were built the owners 
probably held considerable tracts of land; part they 
cultivated and part they rented to farmers. Fuel was 



8o Ilegenb£( of a iBtortfjem Countp 

plenty and easily obtained from the woods, which came 
down to the meadows, and labor was cheap and con- 
tented with country life. The contrast between the 
luxuries and pleasures of life in the coimtry and that in 
the smaller towns and cities was far less marked than 
it is now. 

By degrees the land ran out ; fuel became scarce and 
dear; as did labor; savings were exhausted and the 
young people, lonely and discontented, went to the 
villages and cities. The more fortunate of the old 
people went to the graveyard; the others to the poor- 
house. I am told that the last occupant of Col. Dun- 
bar's house died on the county-farm. 

Although the country is dotted over by these gaunt 
reminders of a life which has gone, in every stage of 
ruin, there is very little known of their actual history, 
and a singular dearth of legends such as might be ex- 
pected to attach themselves to such romantic objects. 
Most of the ghost stories and tales belong to the houses 
still occupied, the others stand lonely and often for- 
bidding, keeping within their empty walls and open 
doors and staring windows the mystery of their past 
and the story of their one-time occupants. 

Col. Dunbar's house is an exception to this rule, as 
about it hangs a tradition, common enough in some 
neighborhoods, but unusual here — that of a secret 
chamber: it is very nebulous, as is the story of the old 



house. There is no such room in the part which still 
stands, unless it is in the attic, which is wholly inacces- 
sible, so if it existed it must have been in one of the 
long-vanished additions. One story is that years ago 
a spy was hidden in this room; who he was, by whom 
hidden, from whom, and in what war are all alike for- 
gotten. Another tradition which goes more into de- 
tail, is, that about a century ago, either the owner of 
the house or one of his immediate family, was im- 
prisoned in Connecticut for some offense. Elaborate 
plans were made for his escape, including a relay of 
horses every five miles. When all was ready he fled, 
dressed in an extra gown worn into the jail by his wife. 
He was pursued by the sheriff and a posse. For a time 
the chase was hot, but the fugitive, availing himself of 
the fresh horses, gradually gained on his pursuers, who, 
as my informant said, had only "jaded mounts." He 
reached the Dunbar house far in advance and was 
hidden in the secret room. For months he lay con- 
cealed there, a "fugitive from justice," as the neighbors 
still call him. His hiding place, I was told, was beside 
one of the chimneys and had a scuttle opening on to the 
roof through which, when all was quiet, he was in the 
habit of escaping at night for exercise. This story 
seems definitely to locate the hiding place as beside the 
big chimney in the extension ; and it also tells of shelves 
used for linen as helping in its concealment. 



82 ICegenbfi! of a i^ortfjem Count? 

It was the custom in this country to combine 
wooden extensions with brick or stone main buildings, 
and most of the old houses followed this habit. Perhaps 
the funds of the owners became so impaired that a 
cheaper form of construction was adopted or the idea 
prevailed of a substantial main building for warmth 
during the long cold winters, into which the family 
withdrew, to blossom forth into the more commodious 
wings with the arrival of spring. I can recall about 
forty houses with field-stone main buildings and wooden 
additions, still occupied. 

On and near Angel Hill are many large old houses 
long deserted and rapidly falling into ruin. One of 
them is especially interesting as it was abandoned some 
twenty-five years ago completely furnished, and even 
to-day much of the furniture is left ; the bedsteads and 
feather beds are rotting on the bedroom floors ; carpets 
are covered in places with growing weeds and grass; 
great holes are in the floors; the roof and windows are 
largely gone, and one who explores its mysteries takes 
the chance of a bad fall. 

The churches and the taverns lasted a little longer, 
as they were generally in or near the small hamlets ; but 
their time has come, and all over the country are closed 
churches and inns. The hamlets have not escaped and 
are rapidly shrinking. 

I recall a beautiful old colonial church by a lakeside ; 



^ome iabanboneb H^ouiti 83 

the cushions are turned up in the pews to protect them 
from dust; the melodeon stands by the pulpit; the 
hymnbooks are in the racks; everything waits for the 
congregation which never comes. 

Many of the hamlets have almost disappeared. A 
respect for their feelings prevents my calHng the nearer 
ones by name. Of the more remote "Welcome" is 
typical ; it grew up around the junction of five roads ; a 
church; a couple of shops; and perhaps a dozen houses 
or so, with a post office and schoolhouse. It lies in 
the bottom of a bowl-Hke valley and one looks up on 
all sides to the horizon, outlined against the sky by 
the rolling bare hilltops. The church is closed, and the 
school; the post office has gone; the shop failed and 
shut up, because, as the only visible inhabitant told us, 
the people were too dishonest to pay their bills. Of the 
houses, seven are abandoned. It was early on a beauti- 
ful September afternoon ; not a soul was visible but our 
informant, who was not a resident, but was taking care 
of two old and infirm citizens of "Welcome." One of 
the houses was a really beautiful old Colonial house, 
spacious and in perfect condition. Its only surviving 
occupant was an elderly woman, who failed to open her 
door to repeated knockings. We asked the one visible 
human being if she wasn't lonely and how long she 
would stay; she said that she was, and that she didn't 
think she could stay much longer. 



84 HegenlijEf of a i^tortfjem Countp 

When, on a second visit, we were admitted to the old 
Colonial house, we found its sole occupant to be a de- 
Ughtful old woman of well on toward four score years, 
who invited us in and seemed glad of an opportunity 
to see and talk to outsiders. She told us how she had 
come there as a bride upwards of sixty years ago, and 
showed us over the really fine house, which was about 
a century old, and clean and neat as could be. Her 
husband had died years ago and her children were either 
dead or had long since moved to larger places; they 
took her to live with them in the winter time, she said, 
but every summer she returned alone to the old house. 
We talked of the past in "Welcome" and she told us 
how every seat in the abandoned church had been filled 
on Sundays. When I spoke of the schoolhouse which 
was falling down, she said sadly, "There are no 
children now." 

The old people will die, perhaps have died ; someone 
will close the houses, and "Welcome" will have nine, 
instead of seven, of its dozen homes abandoned. No 
wonder the cost of living goes up, when the productive 
land steadily grows less. 

We left "Welcome" and looked back down on it with a 
feeling of relief, and even the short time we spent there 
was enough to give us a restless desire to leave and a 
dread of life in its silent and terrible loneliness. Truly 
"Welcome" has become "Farewell." 



^ome i^bantroneti J^ouati 85 

The story of our little manufacturing villages is the 
same; the factories have been forced by competition 
to close and the workmen and women have moved 
away. 

We were rather rich in mills, and beautiful field-stone 
ones at that. The great stone building at Phoenix, 
after standing idle for years, was pulled down and used 
to build the new hospital at Cooperstown ; the dam has 
gone; the shop has fallen into the Susquehanna and 
most of the little village is abandoned or fallen down. 

Hope Factory still stands on the main road to Col- 
liers — a beautiful stone building. We can only hope 
that modern commercial life can find some use for it. 
A quarter mile farther up the Oak Creek are the ruins 
of the Otsego Paper Mill; little but a chimney is left. 
Across the stream is Toddsville; the metropolis which 
grew up about this mill and the Union and Hope 
Factories. The workmen's houses are falling down, as 
are some of the better ones, but the fine old stone "store" 
still stands. The dam is gone, and of course with it the 
mill pond, with its multitude of white pond lilies and 
red cardinal plants. 

Farther up the Creek are the broken dam and ruins 
of the grist mill at Fly Creek and, opposite them, the 
dilapidated saw mill. At Oaksville is a long vacant 
factory — the dam is gone, but the stone and brick 
buildings stand, and on the hill above them is the fine 



86 ilegenbs! of a i^ortfjem Count? 

old stone superintendent's house, with its classical 
portico. 

Many a fortune has been made at these different 
mills, and when I was a boy, they were still running at a 
profit to their owners; but the times were already get- 
ting difficult for them and they followed the country 
gentlemen, and preceded the church and tavern, into 
the Hmbo of things doomed by the ever-changing con- 
ditions of modern life. 

The story of Clintonville or, as it was often called, 
Clinton Mills, is a good illustration of the fate which is 
overtaking most of the small manufacturing hamlets of 
the County. Less than fifty years ago, it was a thriv- 
ing little village on the Susquehanna, some two miles 
above Milf ord ; there was the usual dam and factory or 
mill ; a street lined with houses ; a shop, and a railroad 
station where the trains stopped regularly, and all the 
life and activities of a thriving and contented rural 
community. To-day the dam, the factory, and all of 
the houses and buildings, except four, have vanished 
completely. Of these four, two are abandoned and 
falling down ; the other two are occupied, but when the 
temporary demand for houses is over they too will be 
vacated and fall into decay. I doubt if many of the 
people living in the neighborhood to-day know that the 
place ever had a name. 

All these evidences of a dying countryside are sad, 



H^ome l^anboneti J^ouitsi 87 

but they lend a sentimental charm to a beautiful 
country. 

One sometimes finds a more cheering reminder of the 
past; in a very exclusive, walled-in burying ground near 
the highway, on the east side of the lake, is a tomb- 
stone which, after the usual inscription, giving the 
date of death as upwards of a century ago, sets forth 
the following all-sufficient epitaph: 

She was born in Boston 

Poor thing! Imagine the humiliation of having to die 
in Otsego. 



THE RED— THE BLACK— AND THE WHITE 

MAN 

An old letter or document, an arrow or spearhead, 
or any little personal belonging of those who are long 
dead, and whom we never saw, often is sufficient to 
arouse the imagination, and to call the owner or writer 
back from oblivion, to move for a time through our 
vision; while the image thus created may not be true 
to the original in form or appearance, at least it has 
some of his mental and moral traits, preserved by his 
handiwork. 

The thousands of letters and documents which have 
survived from the years between 1750 and 1850, can 
repeople for us this country, and clothe it with an air 
of romance which may have been lacking, in the hard 
lives of the frontiersmen and women. Just so our 
Indian relics and legends fill the woods once more with 
red huntsmen and warriors, squaws and papooses. We 
cannot all see them, but the favored amongst us can; 
it is one of the sublime gifts of the very young ; within 
a year I saw the touzled yellow head of a youngster, 
hidden in the tall grass, with ready bow and arrow, 
watching for the expected red warrior. 

88 



d^th, j$UtK anb mWt ilan 89 

The red man and the earher settlers we know only 
in this way. The black men, mentioned here, I knew 
personally in every instance but one; and the growth 
and changes of the town and country have taken place, 
for nearly three score years, under my eye. 

The red man left few traces of his stay of unknown 
centuries at Otsego; the apple trees, and probably the 
remains of a clearing near the entrance to the Cooper 
grounds, were the only visible evidence of his occupancy 
of the land for a part, at least, of each year; but hidden 
by the woods and underbrush, there were other signs 
of his occupation; in places, just under the surface, were 
found the ashes of his camp fires, and pieces of his rude 
pottery, and of broken or lost stone implements and 
weapons; in other places were the bones of the long 
dead and forgotten residents. 

There is the old Chief behind the River Street wall, 
and two skeletons were found in the Fernleigh grounds. 
In the fields, on the east side of the Susquehanna, in- 
cluded in Fernleigh-Over, have been discovered great 
numbers of Indian remains of all kinds. It was either 
the scene of a prehistoric battle, or used as a burying 
ground. I think that the evidence favors the battle- 
field. Long ago, when it was merely farmland and 
frequently cultivated, we used to follow the plow to 
collect the stone weapons and tools which were turned 
up every year. The large number of spearheads, arrow- 



90 Uegenbsi of a i^ortfjcm Cottntj» 

heads, and stone axes, with occasional bones, suggested 
a great battle. 

Once, when a tree blew down, clutched in the fork of 
two roots, and overgrowTi with bark, was an Indian 
skull. A wounded warrior had dragged himself to the 
foot of the tree and there, 'with, his head pillowed be- 
tween two roots, died. 

Whether the mound in the northeast corner of this 
field is an Indian burial mound or not has never been 
determined, but in it have been reburied the bones from 
time to time found in the neighborhood. The late Mrs. 
Potter had the tablet which marks it carved and placed 
where it is. Walking about the grounds one autumn 
day. Dr. Battershall came upon this tablet and mound 
and wrote on an old letter the following lines : 

MORTUI TE SALUTAMUS 

White Man, Greeting : We, near whose bones you stand, 
were Iroquois. The wide land which now is yours was ours. 
Friendly hands have given back to us enough for a tomb. 

(Inscription, Femleigh.) 

Engraved upon a stone on a fair lawn, 
Where, from the bosom of the mountain lake, 
The Susquehanna takes its winding way, 
And feels its first strange hunger for the sea, 
I read these words, in which a vanished race 
Gives salutation and pathetic thanks 
For deathly wound and sepulture. 

Alas! 



SSith, Ml^tk, anb mWt iHan 91 

Such meed and recompense to those swart tribes 
Who held the marches of the wilderness 
And threw their fealty in the quivering scale 
That gave the Saxon empire of the West ! 

Their shades move on the pictured page of him, 
Who, on this spot flung o'er their savagery 
The Magic of Romance. Their stealthy feet 
Creep through the enchanted forests of our youth, 
But creeping ever to the eventide, 
Where vanish shades of outworn types. 

Farewell ! 

And greeting to yet happier hunting-grounds. 
Sons of the twilight, martyrs of the dawn. 
Caught in the logic and the thrust of things ! 
The weak give way that stronger may have room 
For sovereign brain and soul to quell the brute. 
Thus, in the epic of this earth, harsh rhythms 
Are woven, that break the triumph-song with moans 
And death cries. Still rolls the eternal song, 
Setting God's theme to grander, sweeter notes, 
For us to strike, fighting old savageries 
That linger in the twilights of the dawn. 

Upon this sculptured stone, memorial 

Of sacrificial life, the cosmic word 

I read, the mystic music of the worlds. 

Walton W. Battershall. 

Femleigh, June 24, 1903. 

Evidently arrow makers had lived and followed their 
trade at two spots on the banks of the Susquehanna; 
one on the east side, at the end of the grounds of River- 



92 Uesenbsi of a ^ortijem Countp 

brink, where a cool spring emptied into the river, and 
the other, on the west bank, at the foot of a great pine, 
the stub of which stood for years in the field just below 
the old Hooker place. At each of them there was a 
great accumulation of chips of flint and broken or par- 
tiall}' finished arrow and spear heads; they could be 
gathered from the bottom of the river at any time. 

In the Cooper burning ground, Ijing at right angles 
to the graves and near the surface, is the skeleton of a 
man. He was first disturbed when Susan Fenimore 
Cooper's grave was dug. There was nothing found to 
identify him. He was probably an Indian, but possibly 
Le\d Kelley who was hung for murder in the year 1827, 
and is said to have been surreptitiously buried in the 
graveyard. 

By many historians Brant is considered the greatest 
of Indian chiefs; he was an intimate friend of Sir 
William Johnson and was the brother of Molly Brant, 
Sir William's housekeeper, who was the mother of most 
of Sir William's children; and who may have been mar- 
ried to Sir William by some Indian ceremony. If the 
follo\\-ing "memorial" is true. Brant in some ways 
shines by comparison with certain of his white con- 
temporaries. It is endorsed, "A ^lemorial of John 
Tunnicliff Sufferings"; is dated twenty years after the 
sufferings complained of and shows, at least, a good 
memory and a tenacious pursuit of compensation. 



A Memorandom of the sufferings & the Many losses Sus- 
tained by the subscriber, from The hands of the Contenental 
Troops &c. When Sir John Johnson and Several Others in 
Tn.-on County was disarmed. I with many Of the inhabi- 
tants was Brought to Major Funday's on the Mohawk 
River where we Took the Oath NewtraHty and signed a 
bond on promise of being protected. 

On the loth day of August 1778 the inhabitants of our 
Back Settlements was partly Obhged to fly from their 
farms, while the other part was apprehended & Brougt 
down Prisoners — together with our horses — Cows — & 
Sheep — which were drove in the front while We prisoners 
were Strongly guarded with fixt? Bayonets and if we did 
Not Please the Captain and his party, with our Manner of 
TraveHng — we were obhged to mend our pace On the 
point of their fixted Bayonets. — thus we were compeled to 
march till we came Near Chern-- Valley where a halt was 
made, until a drum & fife arived, — then we were conducted 
to the Fort, b}* the Rogues March — when we came Near 
the fort — we was drawn up in a hne at which time — insult 
followed instdt, — the Officers & Soldiers first coming to one 
— And teUing him that he Should Be hanged — & then to 
another & so on till the last pointing out the different deaths 
we should Suffer, — when their threatnings and diversion 
was over We was Commanded to March imder a Strong 
guard — towards albany — we did so — but was Ordered to 
halt under the Gallows. — where we received another sort 
of ill treatment — Ruff ChalHnging the Cloths upon our 
Backs & Sapng we Stole them from the solders — by this 
time a large Mob was collected by which we were Con- 
duced — with Shouts — Huzzas Throwing Of dirt & Musick 
pla>-ing the Rogues March till we was Locked up in a 
dimgeon — their kept Close till the remainder of our property 
was Wantonly taken. 



94 Hcgenbjf of a iT^ortfjem Count? 

My dwelling house — deary house Bam Stables & Sheep 
house all consumed by fire. My Crops of hay com & 
Buildings, w-ith my household goods & faraiary working 
tools — together with a large Quantity of good Cheese ^4th 
a eleven Stands of Beehives well filled — the which at that 
time was worth one Thousand pounds — all intirely dis- 
trowed, — My Neighbours & fellow Sufferers Oblidged to 
support themselves by working — from house to house — & 
to accomplish the whole — and a rightfull Coulloiuing on 
their unjust proceedings — were published in the Common 
Print as Enemies to the country. 

The above Mentioned Cows were Sixteen in number all 
very good — which was drove Before me to Cherry- Vally — 
which I have Never seen Since — Nor received any thing in 
lew of them — the Number of Sheep that was then taken 
from me was forty three — I suppose Equal to the Best 
sheep in America — one of which was an English Ram Which 
Cost me a Journey to England — Six lambs I purchased 
But five of them died On the voyage — My Young stock of 
homed Cattle (Seven in Number) I received again the 
which I found on the south east side of hudsons River — by 
the help of a Replevy & the Sheriff of Albany — this Young 
stock was put to grass by William Hudson Ballard — Cap- 
tain of the sixth Massachusetts Rigement — who com- 
manded the party of soldiers which took Me & my property 
from my house — Some part of my horses I got Again & a 
part I received some pay for — the Commissioners used me 
well they said Not any Body had any Business with me — 
Mr. Jer'" Van ransselear went to the Governor To know 
what to do — the Govemour ordered General Starks to be 
sent out of albany and said he was as bad as the Indians — 
John M. Beckman being present the Tears came in his eyes 
when he heard my Complaint — Matthew Visher said I must 
after The war Sew any one that had any of My property 



3Reti, Hilacfe, anb 8!®f)ite iHan 95 

in his hand or had been possest with it — Said I had a Just 
right to Sew for it — and if I could not find such people — 
They would pay me for it — but I said Your Money is grow- 
ing worse & might be But little help — he said I should be 
paid with such Money as would Buy me as good a Stock as 
I had lost — this hath been the Cause of my Not seeking Relief 
Sooner — for I was very desirous of knowing what was be- 
come of Wm. Hudson Ballard Who was the Man that com- 
manded the Soldiers to take Me & my Property — the last 
year I was told he was dead — as I am likely to be caled upon 
for quit Rents for my Estate which I was at that time in 
possession — part of which is sold to put me & my Family 
in a way to live — I was kept off my farm for the space of 
Seven Years — Which on My return was a Bed of Briers — 
without either fence or Building I was obliged to sell up- 
wards of a thousand acres of land to help — put my family 
farm & Stock in a way to live — But that was not Sufficient 
— for the farm is Still Much in debt — I have Not given any 
deed, to Subject those who purchased to pay the Quit 
Rents — this is in danger of Ruening Me — who was the cause 
of sending Such a gang of soldiers which consisted of old 
privateers men — for had these been our own Militia we 
could have found them again after the war — if honesty & 
Industry is to give place to such usage — then Roguery is 
the only thing that Will flourrish — when I was in my 
Strength & prosperity in the space of Twenty Years I 
Never Cleared so Much value as I lost By Captain Ballard. 
At the Time Springfield was cut of — the Indians Came 
Back past My house wdth Several of the Inhabitants 
Prisoners — as soon as the first Indians came up they said 
we are Come for some of your Stock — for the prissonors to 
live upon — or we must unavoidably Starve — I told them 
I had taken the Oath of Newtrality & signed a Bond & was 
fully Resolved Not to do any thing to the contrary — I 



96 Hegenbs! of a i^ortfiem Count? 

asked them who was their Commander they said he was 
behind — when he came up they pointed to an Indian which 
they said was Captain Brant — I told him My Condition 
& Beged him to go his way — he said he could not his 
prisonors must starve — upon My giving him flat denial — 
one of the party came to me & said for God's sake what are 
you about if you have any regard for life let them have 
some stock — Captain Brant said if you will go & your 
family & stock you shall be paid for what we take — and 
what is left behind your losses shall be made good & you 
shall be well used. I said I had Rather die on the spot — 
when I see I could not get shut of them I told one of the 
Boys to turn out a Couple of cows — but I neither would 
Turn them out nor set any price on them, but Brant said I 
should be paid for them — soon after peace was proclaimed 
— then Captain Brant Sent me down Twelve pounds 
Halifax Money for my Two Cows. 

John Tunnicliff. 

Otsego June 30th AD 1798 

Poor John Tunnicliff ! He cuts rather a sorry figure ! 
Evidently a tory, and apparently an associate of Sir 
John Johnson's and doubtless of Walter Butler's he 
emerges from obscurity and passes before us merely 
because his petition has sur\4ved; and to emphasize 
the inferiority of some of his race to the vanished red 
man. 

The two following documents are all else w^e know^ of 
him. He evidently suspected his neighbors near Cana- 
joharie. We wonder whether he ever found his cows 
or got paid for them, and can't help hoping that he 



iaeb, Placfe, antr mWt iWan 97 

didn't. He must have lived somewhere not far from 
the village of Springfield and probably between it and 
the Mohawk, He went up and down through the 
wilderness seeking his property : 

The Bearer John Tunnicliff has our Permission to go to 
the House of one Robert Nellis, or wherever he may be in 
Tryon County for the purpose of obtaining his Property in 
the Possession of the said Nellis in an amiable way without 
having recourse to law for a recovery of the same. This 
pass to continue in force for the space of fourteen days from 
the date. 
Albany 7th October 1780 

Mat Visscher j Commissioners 
Saml Stringer > for 

IssAC D. Fonda ) Conspiracies 

By Samuel Stringer John M. Beeckman & Jer V. Rens- 
selaer Commissioners for detecting & defeating Conspiracies 
&c. 

Permission is hereby Granted to John Tunnicleaf & 
John Rowbottom to pass and repass from this City to the 
Butternuts in Tryon County, they having given surety for 
their peaceable Conduct and to Return again to this their 
present place of abode on or before the eighth day of 
October next. 

Given under my hand by order of the Board 

Jer V. Rensselaer one of 
the Board. 

Albany 21st Sep, 1780. 
To all concerned 



98 llesentis of a i^orttjcm (Coump 

On a ver\' early list of the owners of the Croghan 
Patent, made by R"^ Smith, "'John Tunidift'" is set 
down as owning three thousand acres "near the 
Oaksne," but his name does not appear on the old maps. 

The following bill rendered at about the time of 
John's misfortime shows the acti\'ities of the mihtia 
and how they were fed : 

June 29th 1777 General Harkemans Bill then sent by 
General Harkemans desire 31 lb. Cheses to Chery Valey for 
Qfisers on thare Persueat after the Indians on the Susque- 
hanna. 

Wate 50 lb. at on shilling 2.10.0 

I supose as the Melishe might be 250 men 
Which staid all night lo.o.o 



12.10.0 



June 29th 1777. on thare return they Eat me a Larg Oven 
full of Bred and as much Chees as tha Liked and iS Cows 
milk Night and Morning and all night 17 Horses in the 
Moeing ground. 

Brant did bum Springfield, but no one was killed 
and, had he been in command when Chern.' Valley was 
attacked, probably many of the horrors of that massacre 
would have been prevented. 

The black man almost has disappeared from our coun- 
try; where once he filled an important place. In the 
early days negroes were bought and sold and most of 
the colored people of the \~illage were descended from 



slaves brought here by the early settlers. Judge 
Cooper brought some \\'ith him as did the Husbands 
aiid other families. Among the existing old papers are 
many bills of sale of negroes, men, wenches, and children. 
It was a kindly ser\'itude, where the slave had all the 
comforts of life and often the affection and friendship of 
the master. 

Joseph Stewart, "The Governor," was for 30 years 
butler and body servant at Otsego Hall and its prede- 
cessor. He now Hes in the comer of the Cooper burpng 
ground, wliile "Joe Tom" and "Jennie York" he in the 
easterly part of Christ Churchyard, in what was long 
and disrespectfully known as "Nigger Heaven." 

Jennie's unique epitaph "She had her faults, but was 
kind to the poor ' ' has made her famous. For 3'ears all of 
it had sunk out of sight except the words : "Jennie York : 
She had her faults." Poor Jennie! She was an in- 
veterate thief, but stole largely to give to her poorer or 
less fortimate friends. 

Of all the colored folk of Cooperstown "Joe Tom" 
easily stands first. He once belonged to the Husband's 
family. Never was a blacker black man. never a bigger 
one in everj^ way, and never a more talented one. He 
played the triangle for j^oung and old to dance; he 
cooked at aU picnics, and his chowder was wonderful; 
he rowed the boat and shouted to Natty Bumppo op- 
posite the echo; he rang the church bell and warmed 



loo Hcgentis; of a i^ortfjem Countp 

the church, and, w-ith the same cheerful sniile and kindly 
manner, he dug the grave and buried the dead — or those 
of them who died in the Episcopal faith or had other 
good claim to a place in Christ Churchyard. Like 
most of his race, in those days, he was a great respecter 
of persons, and as he grew older more and more drew a 
sharp social hne. 

When his time came, and he joined his people in 
"Nigger Heaven," all the town mourned, and the youth 
of the village, to whom dollars looked bigger than cart 
wheels, bought and put up his stone by subscription. 
I can still hear his triangle tinkle; see his gleaming 
teeth, and hear his stentorian voice calling off the "Ag- 
gers" of the square dances. 

Looking back through the vista of nearly three score 
years, one can see many other dusky faces — with glit- 
tering teeth and bright eye — all kindly — all helping to 
make life attractive: there was "Joe," old Joe Tom's 
daughter, and Charlie Burhans. Charlie never was 
young so far as I can remember. He was the great 
Nimrod of his people. He resembled a huge bundle of 
rags. Apparently he never discarded any clothing, 
but merely added anything he acquired from time to 
time. He had an enormous muzzle-loading gun, and 
the most wonderful and indescribable stutter. When 
he tried to speak his whole face shook and his jaw fairly 
danced. Charlie's favorite game was ground hogs, of 



i^eb» WsitK anb MWt M^n loi 

which he was very fond. Unhappy was the woodchuck 
which Charlie located. He always got him in the end. 
One would see, in a field, a motionless drab object, 
which might be a stone or a pile of old cloth or bags, 
but which was Charlie. It moved slowly and at long 
intervals — for the woodchuck it was death, certain 
and relentless. 

Henry Williams was an aristocrat among his people 
— tall, straight, and handsome ; he hunted with the white 
sportsmen of the village, particularly with old Dan 
Boden. Many are the partridges which I have seen 
them flush in Bowers' woods along the river and lake ; 
Hen, with the dog, would follow the woods while Boden 
poled a boat and shot over the water. They were a 
striking pair; Boden with his white hair, tall and 
slender, and as good-looking for one race as was 
Williams for the other. 

In those times democracy reigned, at least among the 
whites. There played with us a little black boy, 
Johnnie Jackson, who felt his color so much that he 
used to say that, if it would make him white, he would 
willingly be skinned alive. What became of Johnnie and 
Hen Williams I don't know — they just faded out of life. 

Another character of the colored people was Black 
Dick. He looked after old William Averell and drove 
his team of black'coach horses and great coach, so large 
that it was familiarly known as "the Ark." 



I02 Hesentis! of a i^ortfjem Countj» 

Dick was the last of the old colored body servants 
who made life easy and pleasant for their masters. 
When years ago "Marse Averell" died and was buried 
by old "Joe Tom" in Christ churchyard, Dick was 
inconsolable. Soon stories were being whispered about 
town of a ghostly figure seen in the churchyard, which 
seemed to rise from the ground and move slowly about. 
Many townspeople claimed to have seen it, and the timid 
avoided the streets about the graveyard after dark. 

Those were the days of real darkness too ; the streets 
were only lighted, here and there, by a kerosene lamp, 
and the wayfarer after dark carried a lantern, generally 
with a candle in it. The writer well remembers the 
blackness of those nights, an impenetrable blackness 
which seemed to rise before one like a wall ; this gave a 
ghost a great advantage. 

The stories of the "hant," seen moving in the depth 
of the graveyard, were so persistent, that finally a com- 
mittee of the braver spirits of the town decided to spend 
a night among the graves watching. In due time they 
were rewarded; a shadowy form was seen to rise and 
move about old Averell's grave. After the first shock 
was over, they closed in on the ghostly visitant and 
found old Black Dick; faithful even after death, he 
crept nightly to his master's grave, and watched and 
mourned over it. His grief had unsettled his mind, 
and he lived but a short time. 



SSith, Watk, anb mtiit Man 103 

These Red Men and Black Men were — many of them 
— white in heart and soul, more so perhaps than some 
of the dominant race, which gradually crowded them 
out of our countryside. 

The books of Judge Cooper and of the Settlement 
Shop teem with intimate details of the early life of the 
village and county. In one is an agreement of employ- 
ment, which is a bit of a shock to us in its recognition 
of the personal liberty of the employed in allowing him 
"the last day in each month in which to get drunk." 
An honest recognition of human frailty and of one of 
the very common pleasures of frontier life in those days. 

Judge Cooper, when he rented his house for the 
winter of 1798, paid two dollars a week board for any 
members of his family who remained in it and three 
shillings extra per person when he ' ' makes a dinner for 
his friends " and "on all occasions finds his own liquors." 

In one is written the contract for all the carpenter 
work on the Old Stone House. It is worth repeating 
as showing the informality of such transactions in those 
days. The house is here to speak for the honesty of the 
contractor. 

Articles of Agreement made this fifth day of November, 
1803, Between William Cooper and Cyrenus Clark — viz: 
the said Cyrenus Clark agrees to do all the Carpenter and 
Joiner work that is and ought to be done of in and to a cer- 
tain Stone House that the said William is now about erecting 



104 ILegentrs! of a i^ortfjcm Count? 

on the corner of Water and Second Streets in length forty 
two feet and in Breadth Thirty six feet to be finished in a 
masterly and workmanlike manner from the bottom of the 
Seller to the turning of the Key of the Front Door. The 
work to be done in the following manner — good and work- 
manHke stairs from the Seller to the Trap Door on the Roof 
— to have four Rooms on the first Floor a hall and China 
Room to be wainscotted with Pine Work and every other 
way finished as a House wherein the said William now 
lives. The second story to be laid off with a Hall and five 
Rooms and finished in like manner as the house wherein the 
said William now lives. There are to be nine \^'indows in 
front, four windows in the Gable and East besides the 
Garret Windows and two in the Garret in the West End, 
five windows in the rear. The said William Cooper to find 
all the materials for said House of every kind and the 
said Cyrenus Clark to find himself and hew all Timber for 
said House. The Front Door to have a handsome Portico 
with seats. Two outside Seller Doors and the said Cyrenus 
is to receive for all said work five hundred Dollars. 

William Cooper 
Cyrenus Clark 

The miscellaneous character of the currency in cir- 
culation in Cooperstown, in 1796, is shown by a deposit 
sent to an Albany Bank by Judge Cooper : 

2560 Dolls, in Silver 
935>^ " " Paper 
540 CrowTis 
36 E. Guineas 
7 Half " 



3^th, j&lat'k, anb Mhitt Man 105 

9>^ Half Joes £1734.12 

15 French Guineas 
6}4 Pistoles 
I Moidore 
The cash taken at the Bank 4,461 Dolls, and 50 cts. 

A cosmopolitan settlement: I doubt if New York 
could do much better to-day. There should be added 
to this list, Pork, Ashes, Maple Sugar, and Wheat, all 
of which passed as currency — but not at the Bank. 

Here are some things told by the account book of 
the Settlement store : 

Charity Graves bought four pair of stockings for 
£1.11 sh. in 1807; Ralph Worthington bought a quart 
of rum for himself on June 2"^, 1807, for 2 s & 2 d and a 
piece of ribbon for his wife at 6d; On June 29, Abner 
Graves had a pint of rum for i sh ; Abner had rum and 
brandy and sugar every few days. Trinity Church 
had an account and once, at least, bought rum, but 
most of its purchases were for Christ Church building. 
Recompense Graves was a great buyer of rum and sugar 
and tea. A quart of rum lasted about two days. He 
or she, I know not which, was fond of fine clothes, as 
the account opens with eighteen yards of muslin at 2 
sh. a yard and closes with three and one half yards of 
velvet at 9 sh. a yard. 

The account books of those' days were quite gossipy 
and went much into detail. We know from them for 



io6 HtQtntsi of a J^ortftem Countj> 

whom the purchases were made, and what the debtor 
did and where he lived : 

Herman Pier of Pierstown bought an Umbrella for 
19 sh. John M. Bowers bought "3^ yds. of 'Velvet' 
Ribbon for Mrs. B." in Feby. 1807; "i lb. Hyson Tea 
for Felix 12 sh." and on May 7 "i Umbrella for self 
19 sh." "Mrs. Ann Carey of Springfield" and Miss 
Carey bought great quantities of gloves and household 
supplies. Ziba Roberson bought silk for his wife. 
Judge Cooper bought many things for "Betty" and 
"Sarah" and Mrs. Ransom and some things for Allen 
and gave a pair of blankets to Walker; all in 1807. 

The "Waste Book" kept by R. R. Smith when he 
ran the Settlement store and dated 1790-2 is less in- 
timate in its entries but curious as showing frontier 
prices : 

John Rooseboom paid 8 sh. for a shovel and Jacob 
Morris 10 sh. i d for a pair of shoes. Rum in those 
years cost 5 sh & 6d. a gallon, and there was an immense 
quantity sold. Tea was 3 sh 6d a pound and stockings 
5 sh & lod a pair. Calico was 5 sh. a yard and thimbles 
3d. A spelHng book cost i sh. 8d (which may explain 
some bad spelling) and Blankets £1 12 sh. a pair. 

Other things than books tell tales of those times: 
two little silver spoons — tied with a pink ribbon and 
marked "H. D.," small, light, very thin, and showing 
the marks of teeth in the bowls — vividly suggest their 



a^eb, ililacfe, anb Mhitt i$lan 107 

one-time owner, Helen Dunbar. When she Hved and 
died the spoons unfortunately cannot tell us, but we 
know where — in Colonel Dunbar's old house, part brick 
and part wood, now abandoned; the brick part standing 
with open doors and windows; surrounded by its over- 
grown gardens and lawns; its ornamental trees cut 
down ; its wooden additions vanished and its great out- 
buildings flattened to the ground. Somehow these 
spoons have the magic touch to restore the great house 
and its surroundings, and we see it again teeming with 
life. Among the phantoms, Helen Dunbar, small, 
dainty, attractive, surrounded by friends and admirers, 
without a thought of the dismal fate the future held 
for the old house. 

Then there are six great silver forks which tell an- 
other story. They are marked " M " f or " Morehouse ' ' 
and belonged to the builder of Woodside. They nearly 
cost their owner his election years ago. In those days 
two -pronged forks, of base metal, were good enough for 
anyone, and four-pronged silver forks were the badge 
of intolerable aristocratic tendencies. 

In the heat of the campaign, Judge Morehouse's 
opponent made against him the terrible charge of being 
at heart an aristocrat, and, in proof of it pointed to 
these heavy four-pronged silver forks which he accused 
the Judge of actually using at his daily meals. 

The battle waged fiercely, but Judge Morehouse won. 



io8 HegentDS of a iBtortfjem Countp 

After his victory he gave a great reception to his friends 
and opponents. It was doubtless one of those old- 
fashioned country parties, where the first guest arrives 
about noon and ties his team to a tree, and the last 
leaves about two A.M. In the center of the dining- 
room, in open and jeering defiance, hung from the ceil- 
ing, a dozen of those heavy four-pronged silver forks. 

It was Judge Morehouse who gambled away Wood- 
side at Hyde Hall, and who after moving out never 
looked at it until he was able to buy it back again. It is 
said that when daily he crossed Main Street he always 
turned his face to the west so as not to see his old home. 

The village of Cooperstown was favored, beyond 
most towns of its size, in the character of its residents 
and visitors. Among the former was a long list of very 
able and well-known men and the latter included some 
of the best known men of their times, here and abroad. 
Its hospitality was most lavish, its society delightful and 
cultured, and the struggle for life and money, if it ex- 
isted, kept well in the background. The churches were 
numerous and prosperous; the former due to Judge 
Cooper's announcement that he would give a lot to any 
religious society which would put up a building. One 
of the treats of my youth was to see the Baptists 
dipped in the Susquehanna at the outlet of the lake. 
We always went hoping that one at least would slip 
from the parson's grasp and drift off down the river; 



3^eb, H^lacfe, anb Mf)iU i$lan 109 

but I don't remember that any ever were lost in this 
way. 

The town in those days was relatively and actually 
a much more important place than it is now. All of 
the big houses, now closed for most of the year, then 
were the homes of their owners and open and occupied 
all the time except for an occasional trip away by some 
of the family. There were no factories in the village, 
but it was the market town of a very rich and prosper- 
ous farming community. The Main Street, from the 
Cooper grounds west, was lined with hitching posts, 
and, on Saturday afternoons, every one had a team 
tied to it while the farmer and his wife, and often his 
children, did their shopping. 

For years hops made this country rich, and built 
many of the great farmhouses still standing. The 
Otsego County hop was considered the best grown in 
the world. Every one grew hops and it was thought 
that they couldn't be grown anywhere in this country 
except in our neighborhood. Extraordinary profits 
were made and it was not unusual for a hop grower to 
make the value of his farm out of one crop. Prices 
once reached one dollar and sixty cents a pound and 
the cost of production was about twelve cents. The 
crop was a very speculative one, which added to its 
interest. Buyers came from everywhere and thou- 
sands of "pickers" from the neighboring cities. 



no litQentii of a i^ortfient Countp 

This hop-picking time was not without its suppressed 
excitements. Much hard Hquor was absorbed and 
the usual nimiber of free fights resulted. Before and 
after the actual picking began and finished, great crowds 
of tramps and city toughs gathered in camps in the 
woods and rumors of intended raids on the town were 
frequent. The law-abiding citizen got out and oiled his 
revolver and became an actual menace to his neighbor. 

The police force showed unwonted activity and the 
oil lamps were allowed to burn all night, instead of 
only until eleven p.m., the normal retiring hour. 

The police force of those days was unique. It com- 
bined inefficiency with charity. There were two mem- 
bers, both cripples, who patrolled the town together, 
during the perilous days of "hop picking." One of 
them had one leg and two arms, and carried a lantern — 
the other had two legs and one arm and carried a club. 
However, they proved ample protection against the 
raids which never came off. Many a time has the 
writer, with his companions, listened to the tales of ad- 
venture of this patrol, told on a street corner by the 
dim light of their lantern. 

Hop City vanished with the passing of the hop. Its 
buildings lined the river road from the Fly Creek road 
to that to Phoenix. It was on the land of "Jimmy" 
Clark — perhaps the largest hop grower in the neighbor- 
hood. He had well over a hundred acres in his yards 



i^eb, lilacli, anb mi)iU M^n 1 1 1 

and employed between six and seven hundred city 
pickers. They had to be housed and fed and taken 
care of. To meet this demand, Hop City grew up. It 
had its jail, its court room, its restaurants and, of 
course, its dwellings. Jimmy organized a rough and 
ready municipal government. Justice was adminis- 
tered and order maintained by selected members of as 
tough a community as ever collected anywhere. 

The great weapon of government was the retention 
of the pickers' pay until the season was over, and they 
themselves actually on the special train for home. 
Then when the train started the pay was distributed. 
The pickers were more attracted by the life in the 
country and the gayeties of the season than by the 
money earned. Everything was furnished them — 
transportation, food, housing, and amusements. Those 
were dark days for the housewives of Cooperstown as 
all the "help" insisted on the privilege of going "hop- 
picking." 

Then the change came; it was found that inferior 
hops could be grown on the Pacific Coast and elsewhere. 
Our Otsego growers were undersold and gradually the 
hop industry shrank; the growers failed and the yards 
were plowed up. Farms, which in the writer's youth 
changed hands readily at twenty-five thousand dollars, 
now fail of a buyer at five. Notwithstanding its specu- 
lative character, the days when "Hops were King" 



1 12 Hegentus of a i^ortfjem Count? 

were the Golden Age of Otsego County and Coopers- 
town. With the collapse came poverty to many — 
farms were abandoned and money loaned on them was 
lost. 

Cooperstown had its land boom in the seventies, when 
it was really a great summer resort; prices soared and 
the tale ran that ' ' Josh ' ' Storey went up one side of a 
street and Frederick Phinney up the other buying every- 
thing at the seller's price. 

The town was crowded with summer guests, and the 
lake with boats. All the desirable spots along the 
river bank were labeled: "Lovers' Retreat," "Calypso's 
Bower," "Shady Nook," and similar signs attracted 
the idle pleasure seeker. 

One case of typhoid fever following a stay at the 
principal hotel punctured this bubble. More money 
was lost. Then began the gradual development of 
the town and country along the lines which have 
brought them the prosperity they now enjoy. 

The various histories of the town are filled with 
anecdotes of its more distinguished visitors and resi- 
dents, and to them the reader is referred with the hope 
that these sketches may have excited sufficient interest 
to induce him to delve farther into our local history 
and traditions, and perhaps even search for himself 
among the musty and yellowed documents and letters, 
now laid aside, but once such a real part of someone's life. 



A GREAT HIGHWAY 

The earliest highways followed the important 
streams; partly because of the easy grade, but prin- 
cipally because the first settlements were on the rivers. 
When the land lying away from the streams began to 
be settled, the new towns were reached by short roads 
running back to them from the nearest river. In this 
way the settlements on Otsego Lake first were reached 
by a road from the Mohawk to the head of the lake, 
near Hyde Hall, and then by boat down the lake. In 
1790 the road from East Springfield to Cooperstown 
was built down the east side of the lake and at about 
the same time, or a little later, the road to Cherry 
Valley was made. It is likely that there were very 
rough wood roads in use on the line of many of the 
! present routes before real roads were opened. 
I When traffic justified it, about 1798, the Second 
Great Western Turnpike, so called, was built. It ran 
Iwest from Albany, paralleling the Mohawk Highway, 
jand linking together by one great road the various 
settlements along the ridge between the Mohawk and 
(the Catskills; among them Duanesburg, Esperance, 

( 8 113 



1 14 ICegentiis! of a Motti}tm Count? 

Sloansville, Carlisle, Sharon, Sharon Springs, Cherry 
Valley, the Springfields, Richfield, and so on to Syracuse. 

The route is a beautiful one ; following the top of the 
ridge until it sinks into the sand plains west of Albany. 
The views are wonderful in places ; the most celebrated 
is between Cherry Valley and Sharon where the whole 
Mohawk Valley lies spread out under the eyes of the 
traveler, hemmed in by the distant Adirondacks. 

It is hard for us to realize that the building and open- 
ing of a great highway, a century and a quarter ago, 
was as important an event as the building of a railroad 
or great canal is to-day, perhaps even more so, as roads 
were few then. 

As first planned, it was to run "westward from the 
house where John Weaver now lives in the town of 
Watervliet to the house where John Walton now lives 
in the town of Cherry Valley " ; the toll gates were to be 
at intervals of ten miles and everything that moved 
was to pay toll, except churchgoers on their way to and 
from public worship and persons going to or from any 
mill ; those in search of spiritual or physical food were 
not taxed. The immediate purpose of the incorpora- 
tion of the highway was to raise funds for the rebuild- 
ing of the bridge over the Schoharie-kill at Esperance 
which had been carried away by the ice in the Spring 
of 1798. Later the road came east to Snipe Street in 
Albany and west to Syracuse. 



^reat llisfttoap 115 

This road was built by the corporation and a good deal 
of the stock went to pay the builders. Judge Cooper 
built six miles and was paid in stock. I do not know 
its value then, but in 1802, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer 
paid 1 1 250 cash for fifty shares. Its par value was 
forty dollars in 1799, and was later increased to seventy 
and then to ninety. When the tolls collected amounted 
to siifficient to repay the cost of the road the corpora- 
tion was to be dissolved and the road itself revert to 
the people of the State. This day never arrived, but 
some years ago the road was abandoned by the Com- 
pany and thus returned to the State. 

When the road was finally finished and opened to 
travel, the enthusiasm of its owners was great; they had 
visions of tremendous earnings and began to make 
plans for spending them; the bridges were all to be of 
stone, and one enthusiast planned lighting the highway. 
His optimism can be appreciated when we remember 
that light in those days was supplied by whale oil lamps 
and tallow dips. It makes one's head swim to calcu- 
late the number of either required per mile. Just east 
of the Fort Plain road crossing there is still a stone arch 
over a stream; the only stone bridge between Albany 
and Richfield Springs. 

Wild as these dreams were, traffic seemed to justify 
them for a time; wagons poured into Albany, with all 
the products of the western land, in a continuous stream, 



ii6 Hegenlijs of a i^ortijem Count? 

and returned loaded with the requirements of the 
settlers which their own neighborhood did not supply. 
Great droves of cattle and sheep followed one another 
into the city ; some of them containing over five hundred 
head. 

It was the boast of the stockholders that there was a 
tavern for every mile of the road. This boast at least 
was true, for a few years ago, I was told by the aged 
daughter of the keeper of the last of the taverns at 
Carlisle, that between that town and Albany, a distance 
of thirty-six miles, there had been thirty-seven taverns. 

Her account of the travel over the road when at the 
height of its glory, as told to her by her father, was most 
interesting; twenty stages with six horses each passed 
the tavern daily; ten each way; the loaded wagons 
traveled in fleets often as many as twenty-five or 
thirty in company. In the little town of Carlisle there 
were then four hotels, of which but one remains. When 
I last passed it there was plainly visible in the colored 
glass window over the main door, a clean-cut hole about 
as big as a quarter; this my informant called my atten- 
tion to and explained as follows : 

In the old stage coach days, one morning, an old and 
expert driver drew up in front of the door with his six 
horses, and while waiting for his passengers, he had a whip 
with a long lash with a knot on the end of it, he gave it a 
couple of twirls above his head, and then a crack, and the 



^ (Hreat |^igf)toaj> 117 

knot on the end of the lash cut that hole in the glass, as 
keen as a bullet and never cracked the glass at all. 

I have the account kept by Judge Cooper with one of 
the wagons and teams which passed wearily back and 
forth over this crowded highway. The wagons, like 
the stages, had names. This one was called "Colum- 
bus" and the account is headed "CoUumbus the wagon 
in account with Wm. Cooper"; it cost $800.00 on Oct. 
28, 1 801; it was driven by Michael, whose great coat 
and stockings cost $5.00; then follows a detailed account 
of its loads, earnings, and expenses. On November 
5th it brought a load weighing "37 hundred" at 6/ a 
hundred, $25.25; on November 14 it brought a "cask 
of wine. Pipe of Brandy & Hogshead of rum for 27.75." 
Sometimes the Columbus carried a small load and some- 
times "Returned empty," but generally a load averaged 
about twenty-five dollars, and the trip seems to have 
taken three or four days each way. On Aug. 31, 1802, 
is entered: "Return load a Tomb Stone," and as no 
charge is made, it is probable that this was the stone 
which still marks the spot by the road side where 
Hannah Cooper was killed, on its way from Phila- 
delphia to Morris. 

Occasionally another wagon described as the "Old 
Smashpipe" is mentioned. Perhaps it was such a 
rough rider that the driver's pipe was smashed between 
his teeth. 



1 18 Hegentifii of a iBtortfjem Count|> 

The heyday of the turnpike's prosperity as a great 
broad highway ended with the opening of the canal 
and the building of the Mohawk and Hudson railroad 
from Albany to Schenectady ; the former diverted much 
freight and some passenger travel and the latter a great 
many of the passengers of the coaches; but for some 
years travel continued by stage and private conveyance 
to the then popular resorts of Sharon and Richfield 
Springs; however, the road was neglected; the popu- 
larity of Sharon faded ; the farms and taverns along the 
wayside were abandoned, and the old road became al- 
most impassable between Sharon Springs and Albany. 
Little is left to indicate its past glory to the traveler 
who takes his springs, if not his life, in his hands and 
drives over it to-day. The busy throngs of men, 
wagons, and beasts have disappeared, and with them 
nearly all the taverns; at Carlisle, Sloansville, and 
Esperance still are interesting old inns standing and 
open, and at Springfield is one long closed. Here 
and there along the right of way is a beautiful house, 
occupied, and more frequently an abandoned one, or 
the cellar which marks the site of some old building. 

For miles the broad overgrown right of way runs 
through deserted lands, lined by falling walls, and un- 
marked by even a telegraph pole. Ever3rwhere, how- 
ever, is beauty, and from the time that the road rises 
from the sand plains of Albany, a lover of nature, and of 



!a 4lreat msttoaj) 119 

history, can find few more unusual and interesting 
trips ; straight as an arrow it runs to the west ; only at 
Esperance it turns sharply to the right to cross the 
Schoharie Creek on a wonderful old enclosed bridge, 
which must have many years over a century to its 
credit. 

Esperance itself is beautiful: its Common; its old 
inn; its interesting buildings, stone church, and great 
overhanging elms distinguish it from the run of villages. 
Sloansville and Carlisle with their taverns and colonial 
houses well repay a visit, as do many of the small 
hamlets. 

At Sharon Springs is the great Pavilion Hotel, nearly 
a century old, with its long colonnade overlooking the 
Mohawk Valley ; it is a dignified survivor of other days 
and other manners. For many years it was, perhaps, 
the best known resort in the State of New York and 
one of the most celebrated in the country. Its * ' gal- 
lery" was crowded with politicians and prominent men 
and women ; the former in white duck trousers and black 
coats and the latter in hoop skirts. At evening the 
rows of chairs, four in number, ran from end to end of 
the piazza, and while the occupants discussed politics, 
news, horses, and wine, they looked out over a wonderful 
expanse of hill and valley ; the parlors, brilliantly lighted 
by kerosene lamps and candles, were filled with dancers. 
During the day they drove, rode, flirted, bathed, and 



120 ILegentisf of a ^oxt^tm Conntp 

drank — mineral and fire water. It is hard to realize 
that there was no golf or tennis, and only the begin- 
nings even of croquet, in those days to make summer 
life interesting and wholesome. 

Parts of the old road have been rebuilt recently, and 
in time it may be restored its entire length. If it can 
be saved from the vandalism of the State road contrac- 
tor and turned into a stone and gravel way it will again 
become popular as the most beautiful route west from 
Albany, and, as it always has been, the shortest to many 
of our interior towns. When the time comes that the 
motorist thinks of something more than speed and dis- 
tance the remaining old taverns may once more be 
filled with guests and the "Ford" and its kindred take 
the place of the "coaches and six," "CoUumbus, the 
wagon," "Old Smashpipe, " and their long forgotten 
companions. 

Beyond Sharon is Cherry Valley with its memo- 
ries of Brant and Butler and the victims of the massacre ; 
then come all the Springfields: East, Middle Village, 
Center, and Springfield proper. The latter, too, was 
raided and burned by the Indians, and has all the 
appearance of never having recovered from the shock. 

Here we turn south for our own village, and the 
Second Great Western Turnpike goes on its way west — 
out of our story. 



A LOST ATMOSPHERE 

Electric lights, concrete pavements, and new 
women are destructive of that indescribable some- 
thing called atmosphere; and probably also it is 
too intangible to appeal to our modern ideas and 
tastes. 

Whatever the cause may be, it has gone from our 
village, except where it lingers in certain neighbor- 
hoods: the old Presbyterian and Episcopal churches 
with their graveyards ; along River Street and about the 
corners of the town, where modern improvements and 
new ideas have failed to dislodge it. In my youth when 
the streets were lined with great overhanging trees; 
paved with boards; lighted by oil lamps, or not at 
all, and filled with a friendly and leisurely popula- 
tion, times were different and, in some ways, more 
livable. 

We still have our churchyards, with the narrow way 
leading from Pioneer Street to River Street, along the 
Presbyterian and Episcopal churches and through 
their burying grounds. Even they, however, have felt 
the touch of the vandal, for years ago the heavy hand 

121 



122 Hesenbfi! of a J^ortfjem Countj> 

of the improver was laid on Christ Churchyard when, 
to the horror of many, the leaning and irregular grave 
stones were set up in straight and erect lines without 
reference to the location of the dead, whose virtues they 
proclaim, and without distinction of sex or degree. It 
is to be hoped that when the last trump sounds the 
resurrected will not have to rely on their grave stones 
for identification. 

The people, against the background of beauty and 
quiet, were the real creators of the wonderful old-time 
atmosphere of the place ; they were kindly, individual, 
and interesting. Down near Frog Hollow lived in a 
little house two maidens of doubtful age, always known 

as the "P girls." They were helped in their daily 

tasks by a devoted maid, who was more like a member 
of the family than a servant; they kept their pets; 
canaries and white fan-tailed pigeons, and cats; but 
nothing as aggressive as dogs. Deeply religious and 
interested in all church work they had a lurking 
love of the occult and more than half believed 
in the card fortunes which they told for the youth 
of the town, in darkened room and with lowered 
voice. The pigeons seemed to them sacred and typi- 
cal of purity. When one of the canaries escaped 
they posted the following notice on the bulletin board 
in the post office where lost and found articles were 
recorded : 



ja Hojit ^tmoiipf)tvt 123 

LOST 

A yellow Canary — Flew 
towards Roman Catholic 
Church — Please return to 
(A Great Pet) Miss H. P. 

92 Pioneer St. 

The event of the year for them, next to Christmas 
and Easter, was a ten-day trip to visit relatives near 
a large city. This was the only break in the peaceful 
monotony of their lives and was the treat of well-to-do 
relatives. 

Their means were most limited, but they never com- 
plained and always had enough to help the poor and the 
less fortunate and to send some delicacy to the ill and 
suffering. Life for them seemed hard and dijfificult, to 
hold little of pleasure and much of hardship, but they 
were always cheerful, hopeful, and interested. 

On Main Street, at the same time, were three 
cabinet makers, all old, all masters of their trade and 
devoted to one another. The shop was old, as was 
much of the contents. Unfinished work accumulated; 
cobwebs softened every corner and angle ; shavings and 
sawdust covered the floor. In all this litter of disorder, 
they worked on and did the best of cabinet making. 
They were of quick movement and silent tongue, but 
of slow accomplishment. With years they grew to 
look alike; their backs developed the same stoop; their 



124 Hegeirbsi of a Moxt\)ttn Count? 

voices the same tones and they knew one another's 
thoughts without speaking. Each year the mountain 
of unfinished work grew before them, but no one was 
discouraged by it, except the owners. In appearance 
they seemed about the age of Methuselah, with the 
exception of the youngest, the son of one of them, who 
was in his sixties, and who always was spoken of affec- 
tionately as "The boy." One by one death claimed 
them, but even he didn't hurry about his task, and when 
the last went and the great pile of unfinished work was 
looked over and claimants sought for it, many a long- 
forgotten piece of furniture was found by its owner, and 
many an owner was found to have been long in the 
graveyard. 

In those days the doctors and the lawyers were 
marked men, and went about their tasks deliberately, 
in long black coats and black silk stocks wound about 
long necks, for they were all tall and thin except one 
lawyer who violated custom by being very tall and very 
fat. They never hurried and never forgot the dignity 
of their occupation. In fact no one hurried. In the 
evening when the mail arrived, every one sauntered to 
the post office to await its distribution. Old and young 
were there; the news was discussed and plans made for 
the next day. Joy and sorrow came generally by mail. 

The only event which could arouse the town was a 
fire; then it went mad. The firemen fought one an- 



^ ICos;t llltmosipfiere 125 

other rather than the fire and the townspeople in their 
misdirected zeal destroyed what the fire spared. I 
have often admired the foresight of my great grand- 
mother who once, when the Hall caught fire, ordered 
all the doors and windows locked and bolted, told the 
servants to put out the fire, while she would take care 
of the fire department; this she did by pouring boiling 
water on those who tried to enter the house. 

When the cry of fire was heard every one dropped 
his task or occupation and "hooked on" to the passing 
hand-drawn, hand-pumped engines or ran regularly 
with "The Phinney Hose" or "Deluge No. i" or 
"Niagara No. 2." I remember one joyous occasion 
when we, being young and sound of wind, ran away 
with "Deluge No. i" and arrived at the fire with the 
engine and no firemen. Pumping did not appeal to the 
young, as running did, and was incomparably less in- 
teresting than saving furniture from fire by breaking it. 
When the Central Hotel burned, one night years ago, 
the vantage post at the top of a ladder was seized by a 
"Deluge" man, which of course, was intolerable to the 
other firemen and "Niagara" and "Phinney Hose" 
were turned on him until he was drowned from his 
position — while the hotel burned. Next to the small 
boy the pugnacious and jealous fireman was the fire's 
best friend. 

There were other red-letter days than those marked 



126 ICegenlii of a ^rtidem Cotmtp 

by fire; real holidays, when no one worked. Among 
these was the day of the "Scottish Games." There 
were three enthusiastic Scots in the village and one full 
highland suit; this was worn by a very dearly beloved 
doctor of distinguished Scotch descent, while the other 
two wore "pants" made of Scotch plaid, and wonder- 
ful to look upon. I recall another pair of holiday 
"pants" made for a boy friend out of two American 
flags with the Unions forming the seat. On this day 
all the youth of the town were Scotch, and most of 
their elders discovered a latent Caledonian strain. 
Always a piper was imported and generally an athlete 
or two. The taber was tossed, races run, and all kinds 
of games indulged in at the fair grounds; while the piper 
marched back and forth, blowing the pipes for dear 
life, with that faraway look in his eye which a piper 
always has, and which suggests that his "Heart is in 
the Highlands" — and he looking for it. 

The Simday School picnics were great occasions too, 
and there were always a few picnics at Three Mile 
Point, for old and young, when the latter danced to the 
music of old Joe Tom. 

The elderly residents had their literary and debating 
societies where papers were read and the merits of 
Shakespeare and others discussed. 

The town had its mysteries which lost nothing by 
discussion. For one whole summer, at sunset, a comet 



^ TLo9it ^tmosipf)txt 127 

was heard, played beautifully from the woods on the 
east side of the lake. The secret of the musician's 
identity was so well kept that to this day it is unknown. 
All the town gathered to hear the notes, sweetened by 
distance and the lake. 

Years ago an English gentleman suddenly appeared 
and either bought or rented Brookwood Point, fur- 
nished it, and disappeared for a time to return with 
a beautiful woman. He called her his wife. They 
discouraged all intimacy with the townspeople and 
lived much alone, until one day they were gone. The 
furniture was sold at auction and from the sale came 
the beautiful flat tea pot which belonged to my mother, 
which is still in the family. The name the man went 
by was Captain Daniels and the tea pot bears a much 
worn crest. Rumor had it that he was an English army 
officer who had run away with another man's wife. 
Whence they came and where they went are alike 
unknown. 

When I was a boy, a deformed deaf mute appeared, 
with a heavy chest, which he put in one of the bank 
vaults, declaring it to contain gold. When the lid was 
lifted, surely enough, it seemed full of gold coin. He 
carried a tablet upon which all conversation was writ- 
ten, and pretended to be looking for a country place. 
He almost bought Brookwood Point from Elihu 
Phinney, whose country home it was, for seventy-five 



128 Hegentig of a J^ortfjem Countp 

thousand dollars. Then, suddenly, he vanished. He 
turned out to be neither deaf nor dumb, but a fugitive 
from justice, and when his chest was examined by the 
authorities, a layer of gold, or imitation gold, coins was 
found on the top and the bottom filled with old iron. 
We never knew what he wanted or where he went. It 
was shrewdly suspected that he had planned robbing 
one of the banks. 

The air of the town has suffered sadly from the some- 
what indiscriminate pulling down of old colonial build- 
ings, and the advent of the scroll saw Victorian product. 
Between the old stone bank on Main Street and the 
Adam house of the Worthingtons was a row of low and 
interesting dwellings, worthy of preservation; opposite 
the grave of the Indian Chief on River Street was a 
Colonial house, with a broad flight of steps to the front 
door, surmounted by the usual portico ; on the lot near 
Otsego Rock was a Gothic Cottage, which was burned. 
The old Rectory, too, was an attractive white Colonial 
building and along River Street were several others 
now, like their inmates, gone. 

The auction was a great function in those days; 
there were not many of them, but when they came they 
were real social events; the town went. The sales 
were held on the lawns and Cooperstown society sat 
about and bid languidly on the belongings of their dead 
or unfortunate friends. An adjournment was had for 



^ ILofit 0tmosfp|iere 129 

dinner. It was the time of bargains, and I remember a 
perfect and beautiful Colonial looking-glass with a 
picture across the top being knocked down for twenty- 
five cents. There were heart burnings over bargains 
lost but, on the whole, the auction was quite as success- 
ful a social event as a party or a picnic and from the 
boy's point of view more fun than either. Many a 
piece of furniture now in the older houses of the village 
has a record of numerous auctions, and to the old resi- 
dent its history would be well known, and perhaps its 
appearance at another auction eagerly awaited. 

Sunday was strictly observed ; no one sailed or rowed 
on the lake, and all games were forbidden; it was a 
sacred but terrible day, as long as all the rest of the 
week, and to make it worse a cold lunch took the place of 
dinner. Church and Sunday School over, and a cold 
and inadequate lunch eaten at one o'clock, the entire 
town spent a cheerful afternoon walking to the ceme- 
tery and back. A hurried and cold supper followed 
and then evening service. I remember how heartily I 
sympathized with the little boy who burst into tears 
when told that if he was very good, when he died he 
would go to heaven, where it always was Sunday. 

The very hotels were different: where the Fenimore 
is now was the St. James, a dignified white frame build- 
ing with a classical portico and high steps leading to it. 
Nearly opposite was the Central Hotel, also with a 



130 Hegentifii of a Moxi^tvn Count? 

classical portico covering the entire front and reaching 
from the ground to the roof. When I was a boy of less 
than seven I always got up in the morning by the gong 
of a hotel which stood where the library does now and 
which was called, I think, the Red Lion. It burned 
down and was succeeded by an immense brick hotel 
which never was finished, and which for years was 
called the Skeleton Hotel. Finally it was pulled down 
as unsafe. It was a terrible place to pass after dark' — 
as it was full of ghosts. 

There were no steamboats on the lake, only sail 
boats, row boats, and large scows. The chug-chug of 
the restless motor boat was of course undreamed of; 
all was serenity and beauty. The lake front was not 
disfigured by the present row of boat houses and work 
shops. Great rafts of pine logs were floated down the 
lake and river to the dam where they supplied the saw- 
mill. The gristmill stood about where the water- 
works building is now; the sawmill just west of the 
east bridge, and between them the cider mill and a 
small one for planing. This was the manufacturing 
suburb of the town and a great playground. The mills 
were full of interest ; but the greatest pleasure was run- 
ning on the logs which filled the mill pond from bank 
to bank and ran far up the river. It had just that spice 
of danger which appeals to boys ; one had to keep mov- 
ing or the logs rolled over and a ducking followed ; many 



ILosit ^tmosipf)txt 131 

is the time I have sHpped through into the river and 
dried out in the sun. 

Perhaps the "Cooper girls" for years contributed 
as much to the atmosphere of the place as any single 
household; they were the "Cooper girls" in the early 
part of the nineteenth century, and the "Cooper girls" 
they were affectionately called until the end, which 
came for them well on toward the latter part of that 
century. As children some of them left here about 
1 81 7; as young women they returned about 1833, 
to fill out their allotted years. They were my four 
aunts ; two of them married and one lived for a time in 
another village but returned here as a widow to join 
her two maiden sisters and her third, already a widow. 
During the most formative period of their lives they 
lived in New York and Europe ; they saw the most dis- 
tinguished social life of many of the great European 
cities and were educated there with all the care and 
thoroughness of that day, and in all its small accom- 
plishments; and then returned to the somewhat pro- 
vincial life of this little village in central New York. 
The contrast, great now, was greater then, but they 
found no fault with their lot, and if they had longings 
for greater things and heart burnings for the glories 
which they had known, they never spoke of them. One 
of them, Susan, wrote a number of books; another, 
Charlotte, consoled herself with her music and her 



132 HegentisJ of a Moxti)tm Count? 

garden, and the other two had their children to educate 
and care for. They were far from rich, hardly well-to- 
do, and after the Hall was sold, they lived in a little 
Gothic cottage, built for them on the banks of the Sus- 
quehanna out of brick from their old home which had 
burned. Good works took much of their time and the 
eldest, Susan, who founded the hospital and named it 
"Thanksgiving," in gratitude for the end of the Civil 
War, was looked upon almost as a saint ; she started the 
Orphanage and numerous other charitable institutions. 

They never gossiped, they never spoke unkindly of, 
or crossly to, anyone; they looked for and found the 
humorous and beautiful in life, and in their surround- 
ings; no doubt they lived much in the memory of the 
past and in the interests acquired by travel in those 
early years. Aunt Charlotte loved flowers and had a 
garden which she tended with devoted care ; as she grew 
older and feebler the garden shrank until when the end 
came there were but two sparsely covered beds close 
to the house. Her death was tragic; when her beloved 
sister, Susan, had a stroke of paralysis and was lying 
unconscious, the shock to her was terrible, and she 
crept quietly off to her room, lay down on her bed, and 
died unattended. 

They entertained in a small but most delightful way, 
always having the best of food. I spent many summers 
under their roof, and must have been a trying guest — a 



^ Hosit iatmosJpfjere 133 

small boy in such a household ; but I never was spoken 
to unkindly, although I remember deserving it many 
a time. Meals were served with great formality and 
always began with " Grace " and ended with "Thanks 
returned. ' ' This seemed superfluous to my young eager- 
ness to be off and at play; as did the formal sitting 
about the table for some time after dessert had been 
eaten. This monotony of ten was relieved, however, by 
an amusing incident; they were all deaf, some of them 
very much so, and it occasionally happened that one 
would return thanks, not to be heard by the others, 
and after a little another would perform the same cere- 
mony, much to my irreverent joy. Theirs was not the 
only household of its kind in the village in those days ; 
it was typical merely and perhaps the most pronounced 
in its peculiarities, its history, and its habits. 

There was another delightful household of which a 
one-time village wit said, not unkindly, that they had 
"mice blood" in them; they were afraid of cats and 
loved to sit close up in comers. 

The world is small and strange things happen. My 
first lawsuit, just before I was admitted to the Bar, was 
over some bank books which had been stolen from one 
of two very old women, living down town in Albany. 
I won the case and one of my old clients told me that 
when she was a little girl she lived in Cooperstown, 
where one day in playing she fell into the mill 



134 iCesenb? of a i^tortijent Countp 

pond; she was alone and would have been drowned if 
it had not been for a man passing on horseback who 
dismounted and rescued her; that man, she said, was 
Judge Cooper. It all must have happened before 1809, 
the year Judge Cooper died. The reward for his act 
was long deferred as I, his great-grandson, got eighty 
dollars for trying the case in the year 1880. It always 
suggested to my mind casting one's bread upon the 
waters and having it return after many days. Four 
generations is some time to wait for the return. 

But to go back to the people ; there was one little old 
lady who deserved a Thackeray to immortalize her. 
In her youth she had been a great beauty, and in fact 
never lost her looks. She lived near Cooperstown 
when first married, and although for years a wanderer 
over the earth, she finally returned each summer to her 
old home. She had all the charm of the woman of the 
world that she was; a charm which never grew old; a 
manner which always was gracious ; a wit and conversa- 
tional ability which were vouchsafed to few favored 
mortals. She never lost her interest in life and people, 
or her love of gay clothes and bright colors; in appear- 
ance she was a typical fairy godmother of the early 
Victorian age; she was always a welcome guest, and 
was as much sought by the young as by the middle 
aged and by her few contemporaries. 

When she came to town, attired in the style and 



^ Unlit ^tmosipf}ttt 135 

colors which prevailed in her early twenties, it was in a 
Victoria, of about her own age, drawn by horses which 
must have been colts when she was young, and driven 
by a coachman who personified all that was fat, red- 
faced, and dignified of his occupation ; his livery was of 
the kind which "fitted too soon" and was drawn in 
deep creases about him. He never failed to properly 
celebrate a visit to the village; so when the home 
journey began, he drove his mistress into the shadows 
of the lake road with an unsteady hand and a most 
beatific smile. 



SOME OLD LETTERS 

I HAVE selected from a great mass of letters the fol- 
lowing, as throwing some light on life at Cooperstown 
in the early days of the settlement; there was a con- 
stantly changing and most interesting social life, quite 
remarkable when we remember the remoteness of the 
village and its inaccessibility. The family life at 
Judge Cooper's home seems to have been most de- 
lightful, and the strangers within the village gates 
evidently grew to love the place and the people residing 
there. 

William Cooper to Stephen Van Rensselaer : 

Cooperstown May the 2, 1792. 
My much Estm° and | 
HIGHLY Pris° Friend | 

After giving detailed reports of an election this letter 
goes on. 

I am preparing to Illuminate as well the town as the lake 
on which we shall raise Bonfires on Platforms, cannonading, 
musick, Horns & Conche Shells ; turn out all the wine in my 
cellar &c. on Jays Election. Huza for our side at last — but 
if Clinton succeeds, I must hang up my fiddle. You alarm 
me about McComb, Morris & Bingham. I hope Constable 

136 



^ottte <!^ltr litittta 137 

is not in the scrape, nor Carlisle Pollock. I, like the rest of 
the Human Race, hope that they will hold out until I shall 
not be so deeply interested for their welfare. Adieu, my 
dear friend, Adieu, with all Possible Cordiality and Friend- 
ship, once more Adieu. 

William Cooper. 
Honorable S. V. Rensselaer, Esq., 
Albany. 

Judge Cooper seems to have been very fond of S. V. 
Rensselaer; in closing a letter dated October 7, 1792, 
he says, 

Remember that I profess to be a man of business and 
expect to have my letters answered. I know that you are 
taking up with objects more interesting than that of writing 
to me, but my good Friend, there is nothing that makes one 
man feel so bold in calling the attention of another as that 
of knowing that he has an honest and sincere friendship for 
him, in which business you will do me the justice to believe 
that there is none that holds your welfare in higher estima- 
tion than myself, this is the first declaration that I have 
made on that subject, and shall in future desist from Pro- 
testations, supposing you always take it for granted — 
friendship being a chain that never wants rubing in direct 
terms to keep it bright. 

Adieu, 

William Cooper. 

Jacob Le Ray 

New York, Dec. 7, 1793. 

My dear Sir: 

You will find enclosed two Bank notes of ten Dollars 
each, which you will be good enough to keep until called for 



138 Hegenbs! of a i^ortfient Countp 

by a stranger. They are not a gift of my own, but were 
handed me for this purpose, and intended to relieve the 
wants of an elderly French Gentleman of consequence, whose 
name I dare not reveal at present and who perhaps will call 
on you to receive them in which case you will shew him 
every civility in your power. 

Sincerely yours 

Jacob Le Ray. 
Endorsed 

13th Dec. dehvered to Mr. P. the 20 dollars on his 
producing a letter from the Gentleman who sent them. 
Mr. P. promised to forward them to the unknown person 
intended. 

I have no idea who the mysterious Frenchman could 
have been; undoubtedly a refugee and one in very 
straightened circumstances if twenty dollars could be 
of such importance. The country was full of exiled 
Frenchmen at the time, among them Talleyrand who 
visited Judge Cooper and wrote his daughter Hannah 
the following acrostic : 

Aimable philosophe an printemps de son age, 
Ni les temps, ni les lieus n'alterent son esprit; 

Ne cedent qu' a ses gouts simples et same etalage, 
Au milieu des deserts, elle lit, pense, ecrit. 

Cultivez, bella Anna, votre go<lt pour I'etude; 

On ne saurait ici mieux employer son temps; 
Otsego n'est pas gai-mais, tout est habitude; 

Paris vous d^plairait fort au premier moment; 
Et qui jouit de soi dans une solitude, 

Rentrant au monde, est stir d'en faire I'ornement. 



^ome 0lh ILtttttfi 139 

Arthur Noble, who wrote the next letter, was an 
English gentleman and was largely interested in frontier 
lands. He owned two patents north of us, known as 
Arthurboro and Nobleboro, each of thirty thousand 
acres. Fort Noble was his town. It never prospered 
and its site now is marked only by a building or two. 

Great expectations were built on "sugar and rum 
from the maple tree" in those days. They too, were 
unfulfilled, but every effort was made to develop this 
business. Among the old papers of Judge Cooper's is 
an agreement signed by a long list of public-spirited 
citizens by which each agrees to purchase and consume a 
stated amount of maple sugar annually for a term of 
years; nothing is said of the "rum." Perhaps an 
agreement was not necessary as to this. 

Conajohary, May 7th, 1791. 

Dear Cooper, 

I left the sugar and Spirits in Charge with our Friend Dr 
Rush to be delivered to the President on his return from 
the Southward, which they expect will be in the Middle of 
June. Dr Rush thinks the properest way to address him 
will be thus — Mr Cooper and Mr Noble present their re- 
spects to the President of the United States, and request 
his Acceptance of Samples of Sugar and Spirits produced 
from the Maple tree with their Observation etc. — I am 
sure he will word it so as to give you Satisfaction, I am on 
my road to Fort Noble, where I shall expect to see your 
Honor about the 20th. Inst. — , and request you will bring 
Hargrove with you. I spent two days very agreably in 



140 Ht^tntisi of a iBtortfient Countj» 

Albany, one with the Patroon the other with Gansy we did 
not forget you. Danby swears like a trooper if you forget 
to send her the Maple Sugar she will torment you all the 
days of your life Dr Rush sent his Son to Penningtons for 
the four Loaves of White Maple Sugar, but he had Dis- 
posed of every Ounce of it. I have been bragging what a 
Quantity you would bring to Market this year. I hope 
you will not be disappointed by your Yankees, the Chan- 
cellor has quite failed in his Experiments he says he will 
lose 100 Pounds by it, his People told him it was a very 
bad year and the trees would not run. Rush brought me to 
Mr Jefferson the Secretary of State, he is as Sanguine as 
you or I about the Maple Sugar, he thinks in a few years 
we shall be able to Supply half the World, he read me a 
Paragraph out of a letter from France, to tell him there is a 
house in Amsterdam going to Send to this Country to set 
up works for the Manufacturing of Maple Sugar. 

With best wishes for your Family and Mr Smith Believe 
Me Dear Cooper 

Your truly Sincere Friend 

Arthur Noble. 



The following letter is interesting as showing the 
method of sale and settlement of land adopted by 
Judge Cooper. He followed it consistently and it may 
have been the reason of his success as a maker of 
settlements, in part at least. 

The other method, adopted by many land owners at 
the time, was to lease the land in fee, requiring the 
tenant to pay perpetually an annual rental. It was 



^ome d^lb Uttttvsi 141 

this latter form of conveyance which led to the anti- 
rent agitation and the so-called war. 

Cooperstown, 7 Mo 3rd 1790. 
Esteemed Friend 

Charles J. Evans. 

Thy letter of the 13th of April (informing of one wrote 
some months ago and forwarded to my House in Jersey) 
came to hand this day ; it had reached my House some time 
ago but my being from home caused it to be sent with others 
after me, and missing me has only just come to hand now. 
My Mode of selHng Lands both those that belong to myself 
and those that belong to my Friends, is to allow the Pur- 
chaser a credit of Ten Years for the Purchase Money giving 
him a Warrantee Deed and taking a Mortgage with Bond 
and Warrant carrying legal Interest. This I have found by 
experience to be the only way to raise our back Lands from 
a nominal to a lively Estate — as the Purchaser when he 
holds the Soil in fee sees a probability of making it his own, 
he therefore builds better Houses Barns and other Buildings 
clears his Lands in a better and more effectual manner at- 
tends to planting Orchards, and in fact looks up as a Man 
on record with more ambition than he that is settled on any 
other plan ever yet practised. 

I did not think of taking any more under my care yet 
awhile having just got through with three hundred thou- 
sand Acres, but if those Lands are good I will strive to sell 
them for thee for the following Comission. For all the 
Bonds and Mortgages I hand thee regularly acknowledged 
and recorded I must be allowed Five per Cent on the Sum 
so delivered one fourth in advance one Fourth when the 
Business is compleated or such part of it as I from time to 
time may get through with, the remainder I will collect 



142 Hegeirbj; of a iBtortfjem Countp 

from the Tenants or Purchasers whom I sell to — if those 
Terms should meet thy approbation inform me by a Line 
directed to the care of Glen & Bleecker's Merchants Albany. 
There must be also a power of Attorney proved before one 
of the Judges of the Supreme Court or one of the Masters 
in Chancery in order that it may be recorded in the County 
where the Lands lie, an exact survey of the Lands must 
likewise be sent. Thee must also prepare Blank Deeds 
Bonds and Martgages for my purposes which is all the 
expence thee will be at in this business save that of the 
commission aforementioned. 

With due Respect I am 
thy real Friend 

William Cooper. 
(Endorsed :) 

Charles J. Evans, 

To the care of New York. 

Ludlow & Goold, 

Wall Street, 

for the Post. 

Ph. Schuyler to Wm. Cooper 

Albany May 7th 1792 

Dear Sir: — 

Your favor of the 24th ult. I had the pleasure to receive 
last evening. Its communications are infinitely agreeable 
and the result of the poles as you state, such as will give us 
the victory, unless our friends in other quarters err egre- 
giously in their calculations, — 

Whether we succeed or not, we shall be much indebted to 
your exertions. Stephen too has done his best, and I have 
not been Idle and we are advised that Mr. Jacob Morris 
has evinced himself a true friend to the good cause — The 



^ome 0\ti lLttttX9i 143 

patroon has been rebuked for not writing you but he pleads 
not guilty, — and puts himself on his tryal, — 

I was in hopes to have had the pleasure of visiting you, 
but Mrs Rensselaer's indisposition obliges me to attend her 
to New York. If I am home when the canvassing closes, 
and If It turns out as we wish I will express a messenger 
express to you, — If otherwise bad news flies fast enough — 

I believe fasting and prayer to be good but If you had only 
fasted and prayed I am certain we should not have had 
seven hundred votes from your country — reports say, 
that you was civil to the young and handsome of the sex, that 
you flattered the old & ugly. — and even embraced the tooth- 
less and decrepit, in order to obtain votes — when will you 
write a treatise on Electioneering ? whenever you do afford 
only a few copies to your friends — 

Adieu, I am very sincerely 
Dear Saint William, 
Yours &c 

Ph. Schuyler. 
Mr. Judge Cooper 

(Addressed) 

To — William Cooper Esq., 

First Judge of the Court of Commonplease 
in the County of Otsego 
at Cooperstown. 



W. Cooper to B. Gilbert 

Cooperstown, 8 of March 1794. 

Hudson hath returned from Albany — reports that no 
alteration in the officers of the Pleas or Peace will take 
place — that he hath assurances that no agreement was made 



144 Hegenbs! of a iBtortfiem Countp 

in the council to adopt our List. General Schuyler and 
O Hoffman, both informed me that they had agreed and 
that it was a settled thing and as from them I reported it 
here, if it is not the case I am in a very awkward situation, 
however to put myself out of the way of mortification — I 
have come to the determination — never to sit with Hudson, 
Harper, Culley or Cannon again — for to be obliged to sign 
bills of Exception at every Court on account of their igno- 
rance or wickedness I will not — not to mention their total 
want of respectability — besides I treat no man that I pro- 
fess friendship for with indiference — nor can I bear the 
neglect of an alteration so loudly called for from a people 
who have a right to demand it — therefore if you find the 
appointments not like to take place, hand in the inclosed 
to the Council of Appointment, if you find that they cer- 
tainly will, then keep it and hand it me again — but if other- 
wise do not neglect it. As to the lock if there is any oppo- 
sition let it be, for I am confident the public must and will 
do it — shortly — however — make a motion for £50 to build 
a bridge across the Susquehannah at the end of the State 

road. 

Yours sincerely 

William Cooper. 
Benjamin Gilbert. 

(Enclosure.) 
Gentlemen 

The Almost constant intoxication, extreme ignorance 
and total want of respectability of a Majority of the Judges 
and Assistant Justices with whom I have to associate in the 
Courts of Justice for the County of Otsego renders it abso- 
lutely necessary that I should resign the office of first 
Judge of the County aforesaid, as well to bare a Testimony 
against such undignified carrectors as also to avoid the 



^ome 0Ui ILtttttH 145 

mortification of being obliged to sign bills of exception with 
them at every Court. I cannot readily think of any Person 
fit for the office that I can recommend to so painful a sittua- 
tion, therefore not doubting but your honorable Board will 
make the best provision for the respectability of the county 
in your Power, I do hereby resign and deliver up to you the 
honor and trust reposed in me by Virtue of a commission 
under the Great Seal of the State bearing date 17th of 
February, 1791 nominating and commissioning me to act 
as first Judge of the County afforesaid. 

With due respect I remain 

William Cooper 
The Honorable Council of Appointment 
of the State of New York 

As two copies of the resignation are with the letter, 
the new appointments must have been made. The 
picture of frontier justice is not a pleasant one. 

It is evident from the following letter that in "Hud- 
son" Judge Cooper found a foeman worthy of his steel. 

New York 21 Jany. 1793. 
Two petitions signed by Ephraim Hudson and about 70 
other persons seting forth that you as first Judge of Otsego 
had been guilty of mal & corrupt conduct and sundry mis- 
demeaners in the execution of your office, was this day read 
in the house, after which I immediately rose and declared 
that I viewed it as a false scandalous & malicious libel and 
moved that they might be ordered to lay on the table, how- 
ever nimibers prevailed and they were committed to a com- 
mittee of the whole to be taken up next Wednesday with a 
Resolution moved also to day by a Mr. Curtis to an enquiry 
into your conduct. 



146 XegentDEf of a i^ortfjem Countp 

It being the latter end of the sessions I think there is little 
danger that the business will be fully gone into at the present 
however, if it remains over its an unpleasant thing — some 
of those fellows would go to the devil to ruin you, however 
walk straight and be firm and you have nothing to fear 

I expect you & Talbot will have a pretty tight race for 
Congress 

As the Post does not go 'till Thursday morning shall not close 
this unless a direct private conveyance offers 'till Wednesday 
evening & will inform you what the house may do that day 

Wednesday 23d January 1793 

Question was this day taken upon a postponment of Mr. 
Curtiss resolution 'till the next session and lost, then the 
house agreed to the resolution, and the sergeant at Arms is 
to be sent to Otsego for witnesses by whom I shall send you 
a copy of the petition, the signers names &c and copy of the 
resolution agreed to 

Yours truly &c 

Jacob Morris. 
P.S. 

My business will absolutely require me to be home before 
this business comes on. 
Judge Cooper, 

(Addressed) 

Honorable William Cooper Esquire 
Cooperstown 

Rufus King to Judge Cooper 

Philadelphia 10 March 1794 

Dear Sir, 

I ought sooner to have replied to your Letters respecting 
the land sold to you when you was last in New York — I 
view the subject in the same light that you do, and consider 



^ome 0\\i ILtUtxsi 147 

the Bargain to have been then concluded — Mr. Kent has 
drawn the Deeds &c. which are ready for execution — Had 
I seen Mr. Smith I should have proposed to him to have 
taken the mortgage in order to have had it executed, 
recorded and returned — 

I was very much gratified with the proceedings of the 
Assembly on your subject; justice has been rendered to you, 
and mortification inflicted upon your adversaries. — We have 
before us again the subject of post Roads, and have inserted 
in the Bill a road to Cooperstown in Otsego, branching from 
the Mohawk, and passing through Cherry Valley — 

As post roads are bestowed very freely at the request of 
our southern friends; if you have in view any extension of 
the Post, in your Quarter, which by facilitating the com- 
munication of information, would accommodate any con- 
siderable number of People, I desire you to give me early, 
and particular, information, that I may be able to propose 
the addition when the Bill shall come before the Senate — 
We have nothing of a public nature, which the News Papers 
do not communicate — one great effort is to preserve the peace 
of the Country, tho some late proceedings of the British in 
the West Indies, if they shall be authorized, will prove 
extremely embarassing — 

Our last accounts assure us that the Indians are desirous of 

Peace, and there is some hope that this event will take place. 

Yours very truly, 

T J „ RuFus King. 

Judge Cooper 

J. Morris to Judge Cooper 
Dear Judge 

The town of Unadilla still retains its federal name in 
spite of the most violent efforts of the antis 

After our political opponents had held several meetings 



148 ilegentue; of a iSorrtjem Count? 

had written enumerable circular letters, had dispatched 
many expresses, and had rode day and night to the no small 
inquiry of the nighing quadrupeds, we j-esterday came to 
the pole for super\'isor of this town when the nimiber stood 
for Butler Gilbert Esq. 73 

and for David Bates Esquire 68 

Majority in favor of the federalists 5 

Never was there a greater discomfiture of the clintonian 
force in this tovm, such was their sanguine hopes and pros- 
pects of success that bets were freely offered of large odds 
before the election in favor of Bates, every man in the town 
on that side who was able to travel was brought up both 
white and black — they had indeed laid their plan so well as 
to keep at home many of our friends on the Otego Patent 
and to draw over to their interest many wavering persons 
and our success is wholly ascribable to the federal spirit of 
the butternuts; the hardy sons of this new settlement 
rushed over the Otego hills an irresistible phalanx and bore 
down all opposition; none were hostile to us but two per- 
sons we most heartily dispise to wit Capt. Craw and the 
would be Esquire, the former a doubleface xnllain and the 
latter a notorious rogue — All the other town officers are 

decidedly and unequivocally federal and anti C n and 

were carried in by a ver}- large majority and I think the 
opposition have given us their last dying speech therefore 
let us join chorus with Eli 

That since in Political dust the}' are laid 

Their all dead and d d, Sc no more can be said. 

I proposed to the meeting to enter into a resolution to 
raise a sum at a future day for the purpose building wnth 
other towns a House at Cooperstown for the accommodation 
of the poor which was agreed to by a respectable majority 



^ome ^Its ILttttxfi 149 

on taking the question, but when we came to fix the sum 
the Cullys & other C— — n devils raised such a cabal and 
clamour that the whole business was knocked in the head 
notwithstanding I urged so strongly the policy interest and 
economy of the measure 

It will be most convenient to me to attend to the running 
the line we agreed to chain about the middle of this month, 
I hope therefore it may be convenient and agreeable to you 
to meet me at Esquire deVillers on the evening of tuesday 
the 15 instant & we will start from the corner the next morning 
& dine at my house 

Yours &c 

J. Morris 
Judge Cooper 2 April 1794. 

P. S. 

Our town looks to the Cooperstown manufactary 
for a supply of ballots for the ensuing election you will 
please to have 300 prepared for us & forwarded in good 
season — from an over officiousness in driving the quill here- 
tofore in this part of the world too much dependence is 
generally put on me for the performance of that duty but 
I feel all the conscientious scruples with regard to signing 
or writing my name on a certain occasion that some men 
do when about to commit a forgery — 

Had I known that a militia Capts. commiss'n. carried 
with it such authority among the New England settlers I 
would between you & I and the post have made a dead set 
at the Commiss'n, of that great personage mentioned on 
the other leaf last winter. 

(Addressed) 
Honorable 
Judge Cooper 
Cooperstown 



I50 Hcsenbs; of a i^orttem County 

F. Z. Lequoy to W. Cooper 

Charleston, (SC) The 23 March 1795 

Dear Sir 

Your letter of the 12th of February has only been received 
but few days ago, it is not a little satisfaction to me to hear 
of your family. Whom I am so mutch indented for all 
kinds of favors and polite attentions. 

I hope soon to return to my humble and philosophical 
retreat whilst you will shine on the flour amongst the dele- 
gates of the Union, if I am well informed. 

My buzinenes here are prety near at an end, and I shall 
soon see you in Philadelphia. 

The Older I grow, My Dr Sir, the less I am determined 
for matrimony. What you are please to say on that subject 
is of the most fiatering prospect; but, I begin to reflect that 
to make ones Wiffe happy it is not sufficient to Wisch it 
warmly. 

My best respects to all your family but more particularly 
to your Bellowed and charming M^ Anna, I am very 
Sincerely 



F. Z. Lequoy. 



William Cooper Esqre 

Member of the House of Representatives, 
in Philadelphia. 



Le Quoy was a refugee who kept a small shop at 
Cooperstown for some time. He turned out to be a 
French nobleman who at one time had been Port 
Captain of St. Pierre, Martinique. 



Dear Sir: — 



^ome 0lti Hettetfl! 151 

Jacob Morris to W. Cooper 

Albany 2 January 1796 



The brilliancy exhibited at Cooperstown last Tuesday — 
the Masonic Festival, was the admiration and astonishment 
of all beholders — Upwards of 80 People set down to one 
Table — some very excellent toasts were drank and the great- 
est decency and decorum was observed as well there (in 
the Academy) as in the procession from Huntington's 
Hotel. 

In the evening we had a splendid ball 60 couple, 30 in a 
set, both sets on the floor at the same time, pleasant 
manners and good dancing. . . . 

With compl't's to Miss Cooper and also R. R. Smith 

notwithstanding he has so totally forgotten his Butternut 

friends I conclude Dr Sir 

Your ob ser't 

Jacob Morris 
Judge Cooper 



Dear Sir- 



Moss Kent to W. Cooper 

Cooperstown, April 7, 1796 



Your children here are well and Mrs. Cooper is gradually 
gaining strength. She has rode out in the carriage for 
several mornings past and means to continue riding when 

the weather will permit. Mrs. C has enjoined it upon 

me to inform you that she lives very unhappy and is very 
impatient for your return and wishes you to bring Isaac & 
Nancy with you. She is also desirous that you should 
engage a House at Burlington before you return as it is her 



152 Hegenbfii of a iBtortbem Countj* 

determination never to spend another winter in this coun- 
try. I would have wished that Richard had wrote you on 
this business but Mrs. Cooper enjoined it on me, and my 
duty and politeness to her induced me to be obedient to her 

request. 

I am yours respectfully 

Moss Kent 
Wm. Cooper Esq 
Member of Congress, 
Philadelphia 

Evidently there were homesick hours for Mrs. 
Cooper. Judge Cooper rented his house for the winter 
of 1798, we know from an existing lease, but he seems 
to have kept it open in 1797 — although Mrs. Cooper 
may have spent that winter at Burlington. 



W. Cooper to 
Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer 
Albany 
On the evening of the third day of June I shall send my 
wagon and one or two spare horses to the Mohawk to accom- 
modate yourself and Robert — on the fourth I shall have the 
constables with their staves at the County line to escort 
the Judge and Retinue. Attend to this and give warning 

to Fairly. ... 

Yours 

W. Cooper. 

Stephen Van Rensselaer was a Senator and Judge of 
the Court of Errors. The "Constables with staves" 
would have resembled Falstaff 's Army. 



^ome <!^ltr Hetters; 153 

S. V. R. to W. Cooper 

Watervliet Nov. lo 1797 

Dear Judge 

I send by your son Rich'^ a few poplars and gooseberries 
to ornament your garden. I am apprehensive the season is 
not favorable and lest they should not succeed I shall order 
some to be forwarded in the Spring — Your letter I handed 
to the Governor — I suppose that was the intention. The 
day we left your hospitable Mansion I was much diverted. 
Tom^ (Rev'd Thomas Ellison) insisted that he knew the 
road from Herricks and led me to Youngs Lake Richfield 
& the devil knows not where at length I inquired — ^my 
conjectures were true he had never traveled the road. We 
returned both in a pet — we arrived at one Castles in the 
town of Warren a miserable house — our horses fatigued it 
became necessary to have refreshment. I inquired for 
oats — Oats in plenty, Tom^ for a pipe. A pipe was 
brought and good tobacco, pray landlord says Ellison 
have you anything to eat. Why because we live in the 
woods do you think we do not eat — says the Esq. — to judge 
from your looks says Tommy one would not think you did 
much at it. A laugh all round. The old woman was 
called ; she said we might have fresh pike and beef steaks — 
fresh pike says Tommy — dancing & laughing — forgot our 
circuitous rout — and with difficulty could I prevail on him 
to start after dinner — he advised the Esqr to send you some 
pike and brandy — being scarce articles in Coopers Town — 
as you must be tired by this time of reading when we meet 
I will detail the rest, I expect you to live at my house this 
winter. 

Yours 

S Vr 
(Stephen Van Rensselaer) 



The following letter was written by Judge Cooper to 
Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg with the hope of per- 
suading him to build the Lutheran Seminary, provided 
for by the Will of John Christopher Hartwick, at 
Cooperstown, instead of on the Hartwick Patent, where 
it now stands, about three miles south of the village. 
The arguments seem convincing, but were of no avail; 
the Hartwick Seminary is still running and prosper 
ous, while the academy at Cooperstown long since 
disappeared. 

W. Cooper to Muhlenberg 

G)operstowTi November 19, 1797 

Dear Sir 

We have been visited by the Reverend John Frederick 
Ernst — as the Teacher and Pastor agreed on by you and 
others to take upon him the charge of those offices consist- 
ant with the will of the late John Christopher Hartwick — 
Altho you have allowed him only the starving sum of 250 
dollars Per anntun, yet if 3'ou join that to our Institution 
you will render the Man — the Ver}^ People you mean to 
serve and the Community at large a real ser\'ice for we have 
a noble Edifice Erected at the Expense of £1500 chartered 
and a Library granted by the Regents and now in action — 
but kept open for a superintendant until we know your 
determinations — which from your ideas, when I had last 
the pleasure of talking with 3-ou, and your waiting on the 
trustees, and from your statements I expected a proposition 
on yovu- part — which is still uncertain, and oiu: Seminary of 
Learning kept back. My dear Sir, it would be as improper 



^ome 0lti ILtttM 155 

for you to spend the stock of that estate in Erecting Proper 
buildings in the woods for the Promotion of the object 
before you, when there is already a chartered institution 
which will conform to your mode of Directing the business — 
and that within one mile of the Patent in a fine village where 
board and all kinds of mechanics are at hand for the con- 
venience of the students — where there is a decent market 
and upward of 400 souls in a compact settlement — as im- 
proper, I say, as it would be to dig a canal from Philadel- 
phia to Germantown for ships to unload their — when there 
are already good warfs in Philadelphia for that use — The 
People in this town like the man and will erect a house for 
him, and subscribe more than you have allowed him be- 
sides giving him the advantage of the tuition money — but 
he must reside here and take the charge of our Academy — 
from uniting the two interests great Public good will result, 
from setting up two institutions within four miles of each 
other, little can be expected from one or the other — in short 
the object of the Dominie's will can be converted into the 
highest Public Utility by appropriating not more than half 
the revenues to our school. We have one room in it that 
will hold 1000 People — The People on the Pattent will 
attend Divine Service here, for the most part, that would 
there — Such as wish to be taught the Languages can 
come better for their children can have bord cheaper 
and the farmer Pay in Produce. But we must know as 
soon as you can conveniently arrange the business — 
should you decline joining us we could then make our own 
arrangements. 

Yours with Great Regard 

William Cooper 
Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, Esq. 



156 Hegenbjf of a iBtortfjent €o\mtp 

Lequoy to W. Cooper 

Hague 14th May 1799 
Dear Sir 

Your Embassador Mr. Murray does obligingly afford me 
a sure opportunity to write to my friends in America, as 
long as I Leave I will reckon you amongest them. Otsego 
never will stranger to my heart nor all his good inhabitants. 
I am now in a diplomatic line and entrusted with soame 
important interest of my Country here. 

May you, Sir, and your family, be as happy in every re- 
spect as I wish, may you long enjoye of the respect and 
Gratitude from all your tenants and the filial affection of 
your children. To whom as well as Mrs. Cooper I beg to 
be remembered is and will be my warmest vow 
I remain, Dear Sir, 

Yotu" humble Servant 

F. Z. Lequoy 
To William Cooper Esqre 
at Cooperstown, 
Otsego County, 
New York 

J. Fenimore Cooper to W. Cooper 

Coopers Town March 3d 1800 
Dear Papa 

I take this opportunity to write to you as Isaac is a going 

directly to Philadelphia, we have got 6 lambs one has died 

and another is most dead. Mr Macdonald is a going to 

leave us for Albany. Mama will not let Samuel go with 

Isaac though he wished to very much. I go to school to 

Mr. Cory where I write and cypher. Mr. Macdonald has 

had a new student from New York who encamped in Mr. 

Kents barn and laid 3 days there without being found out 



^ome (^Ib ILttttvsi 157 

and had his feet frozen. We are all well. I hope I shall 
have the pleasure of receiving a letter from you soon as this 
letter reaches you — 

Your 

Affectionate son 

James K. Cooper 

18 Century, 1800 

This is said to be the first letter written by James 
Fenimore Cooper; probably it is only the earliest which 
has survived. The "K" is for "Kent," after Moss 
Kent, for whom James Cooper had a great admiration. 

The following are extracts from letters written to 
Judge Cooper by Richard R. Smith, of Philadelphia, 
between the years 1794 and 1802: 

New York, 6th Nov. 1794. 
Dear Judge, 

I wish you would endeavor to sell it for me, and also to 

get Walbridge to pay me some for I declare I am ashamed 

that my Friends in Philada should know that I lived Five 

Years in Otsego and told them I was making money, and 

then let them find out that I was forced to borrow money to 

get away — Please to give my compliments to Peter, telling 

him that not knowing what better to do, I left his in Mrs. 

Hoffman's hands till he should receive his orders — I have 

called to see Nancy several times, she has grown to be a 

charming Girl though she was always that, I mean that she 

has improved — Miss Bingham and Miss Nesbitt are 

well — Isaac is well and sends his love, we embark tomorrow 

morning by daylight for Burlington. Compliments to Mrs. 

Cooper and believe me ever yours, 

RiCHD. R. Smith. 



158 Hegentiss of a Moxtiitxn Count? 

Philada. 25th Novr. 1794 

Dear Judge 

Isaac is well and seems contented, tho' he says Burlington 
is not equal to Cooperstown, and there he is certainly right, 
as it has always been on Sunday when I have been at Bur- 
lington, I have not had any opportunity of examining the 
school in person, but everybody says it is a good one for 
that kind of learning which you wish Isaac to have. Re- 
member me affectionately to Mrs. Cooper and the chil- 
dren — I Most heartily salute our agreeable little Circle 
and indeed all Cooperstown — and with every good wish for 
your prosperity, I remain. 

Affectionately 

RiCHD. R. Smith, 

I believe I shall make more money by the exchange of 
place, but hang me if I expect more happiness — You 
mention that Miss Cooper is in Albany yet — when you see 
her please to present my most sincere respects, and wishes 
for her happiness — I am not without hopes of seeing her 
accompany you to this City, when you come down to the 
grand Council — I hope you have beaten them, tho' I hear 
nothing of it yet — The Fonda system is not necessary — 
the markets being very fine, tho they are excessively dear — 
Mrs. Cooper's kind attention to my mare demands and 
receives my warmest thanks — I often think of Mrs. 
C's kindness to me with gratitude and pleasure, I hope 
she enjoys health, and I am sure I wish her happiness, kiss 
the dear little children for me, tell them I certainly shall 
remember to send them something whenever I have an 
opportunity — It grieves me that I cant stop and help you 
eat a Turkey or so of a Sunday — Remember me most 
affectionately to the Lads, tell them I often think of them, 
and wish I could take a Rubber or two. I believe I have 



^ome (Z^lb Uttttxa 159 

said everything I ought to say — if there is anything more 
let it be good Wishes for Mrs. Cooper and the Family — 
and most sincere good wishes for everybody and everything 
in Coopers-Town. Anti-federalism is much below Par 
here. God bless you and believe me 

ever most sincerely 
yours 
10 O clock at night Richd. R. Smith. 

so says the Watchman — adieu — 

Philada. Jany. ist, 1795 

Dear Judge 

I think one of your late letters to me mentioned that you 
were without an assistant — but perhaps I misunderstood 
you — my reason for introducing it now is that my Brother 
is not in any considerable business and I believe would Hke 
to live in Cooperstown — I flattered myself that I suited 
you, and I dare engage that he will give at least equal satis- 
faction — should you have an Idea of this kind you will 
oblige me by touching upon it in some future communica- 
tion — Business engrosses the chief of my attention but I 
often withdraw my mind from it to indulge myself with a 
retrospective view of the many pleasing Hours which I have 
spent in our sweet little City, and particularly those which 
were more immediately confined to domestic enjoyment in 
your agreeable Family — I fancy Miss Cooper is still in 
Albany — I hear nothing of her arrival in New York yet 
I regret the want of an opportunity to send her some new 
Books with which I know she would be pleased — but some- 
one will doubtless present itself before her return to 
Coopers Town, previous to which she would scarcely have 
leisure to read them — in the mean time I may add to the 
collection — The paper of this Evening gives an Account 
of General Knox's resignation of His office — you have no 



i6o HegentJiS of a Movtf^txn Count? 

doubt heard that Col. Hamilton has acted a similar part — 
it is a circumstance sincerely to be lamented that such men 
should be driven to the necessity of discontinuing their 
public labours to avoid the slanderous abuse of the greatest 
Rascals in Society — Remember me most respectfully to 
Mrs. Cooper and your Family — I hope " de frolic season " 
has been properly kept — I often longed to spend it with 
you — I cannot particularise, but I wish to be remembered 
most affectionately to all my Friends, if I had only the sole 
of an old Shoe that had belonged to any of them I should 
reverence it — I know you will do the best you can for my 
Interest — If Robert Stephens would bring my mare down 
I would satisfy him well for the expence and trouble. I 
want her much — You will think I have written enough 
when I tell you that it is Ten o'clock, and that I slept none 
last night, I sat up with a Gentleman of my acquaintance 
who nearly lost his life by an accident — Adieu & think 
me ever most sincerely 

Yours 

RiCHD. R. Smith. 

I hope you have made your calling and your Election sure. 

Philada Feby. 22d. 1798 

Dear Judge 

You enquire about Merchandising — It is bad enough, 
God knows — I have often wished myself back in Otsego — 
Francis, our old Friend Charles, set off for your Country 
about a week ago — I should have written to you by him 
but I had heard of your being in New York — We are all busy 
about electing a Senator in the State Legislature — the con- 
test is between Benj. R. Morgan, a Gentleman, and conse- 
quently a Federalist, and a Dirty stinking antifederal 
Tavern keeper, called Israel Israels — But Judge the 



^ome 0Ui ILttttvi i6i 

Friends to order here don't understand the business — they 
are uniformly beaten — we used to order these things better 
at Cooperstown — Please remember me to your family and 
believe me always 

Your 

RiCHD. R. Smith 

Philada. March 15th, 1802. 
Dear Sir 

Miss Morris will leave this City to day to join her Father 
in New York, he is confined there by a severe cold caught 
in travelling which prevented his coming on here for her — 
Your daughter Nancy would have accompanied Miss M. 
but I united with Mrs. Fullerton in prevailing upon her to 
postpone that measure either till she heard from you, or 
till the unpleasant circumstance of her Brother William at 
Princeton shall be cleared up — You have unquestionably 
heard of the destruction of Princeton College by Fire — 
The manner in which this accident happened has given rise 
to many conjectures, the most general of which I believe 
is that it was burned by an accidental communication of a 
spark to the Roof, but some either from malicious or other 
motives have insinuated that it was done designedly by 
some of the students, and I am sorry to find that your son 
William's name has been mentioned as concerned — As 
far as I can learn the circumstances which gave rise to sus- 
picion of William, was a Negro girl, belonging to a Tavern 
Keeper with whom William had had a quarrel, swore before 
a magistrate (either of her own accord or by the contrivance 
of her master) that he had offered her money to set Fire to 
her Master's House — Upon the strength of this I under- 
stand William will not be permitted to leave Princeton, 
till a meeting of the Trustees, which I understand will take 
place soon. Things being thus circumstanced I concluded 



i62 ILegentisi of a Moxt^txn Count? 

it would be best for Nancy to remain here for the present, 
for the account had reached her quite as soon or sooner 
than it did me — She wishes you very much either to come 
on for her yourself, or send Isaac, and I promised to join 
her in endeavoring to pursuade you — indeed although I have 
the most decided confidence in William's principles, and 
have no doubt of his being cleared of this imputation to 
the satisfaction of all his Friends, yet, I think it would be 
best for you to come on — I heard nothing of all this till 
Saturday night. I shall write to day to William to know 
whether I can be of any service to him — My wife is con- 
fined to her chamber by a severe indisposition, or I would 
have been up to Princeton. 

With much haste, 

I remain yours 

R. R. Smith 

The following letters, signed Elihu Phinney, were 
written to William Cooper by the owner and publisher 
of the first newspaper issued in Cooperstown ; he writes, 
shortly after his arrival on November 4th, 1796: 

"Cooperstown is about 75 pr cent below Proof — no 
life — no society — no Telegraphe — let me hear from you 
as soon as convenient." 

This may have been due to homesickness. Judging 
from his later letters this lack of life and interest van- 
ished. The list of criminals given in his letter of 1799 
must not be considered as characteristic of the village ; 
I think that they were political offenders, as at that 



^ome (i^lb Hetterfli 163 

time a bitter partisan fight was under way in this section 
of the country. 

Cooperstown, Jan. 4, 1796 

Hon. Sir, 

Your kind favours of the 9th, 13th, & 15, are duly re- 
ceived; and have afforded me a pleasing confirmation, that 
distance and high station does not obliterate the remem- 
brance of your friends. I sincerely wish that the horizon 
of Cooperstown could offer something, either pleasing or 
interesting to you; but our eyes are turned toward New 
York and Philadelphia for our mental food, the ensuing 
winter. Your ''Sweet little town,'' remains pretty much in 
Statu quo. The buildings erected since your departure, 
are, Baldwin's and Holt's Houses, a Brick Store of Mr. 
Landon's, a barn of Doct. Gott's, 18 by 24, a barn for Mr. 
Huntington, 26 by 24, one for myself, 18 by 24, and a smal 
stable on Baldwins lot. The roads are yet nearly impass- 
ible, the merchants have not received their goods ; and altho' 
I have 142 reams of paper at Albany & Schenectady, I have 
not been able to procure any; Mr. Harssey has however 
been out for Albany and not yet returned. 

Eldridge has run off for Canada, to my damage at least 
600. and Cooley has absconded £40 in my debt; those 
losses are equal to my whole proceeds thro an assiduous 
summer ; but I hope by industry to repair the loss. 

I have spent but two evenings at Loo since you left town ; 
and these were so spent out of respect to our good friend, 
the Sheriff, who has been in town at two different times. 
Your caution on that point, is a proof of your disinterested 
friendship for me, as well as your ardent wishes for the 
prosperity of this delightful place; and as such will be 
cherished by me with scrupulous regard to your advice. 
Mrs. Phinney and Mrs. Noyes present their respectful 



1 64 Hejjenbjf of a i^orttjem Countp 

devoirs to Judge Cooper; our family, and the whole village 
have been very healthy, since you left us. The turret of the 
Academy missed of being painted for want of oyl, which 
could not be procured. I saw Mr. Starr yesterday and 
delivered your kind message; he says he is not in the least 
discouraged, we immediately opened a subscription for him ; 
but he has concluded not to rebuild till spring. Mr. 
Andrews, printer, at Stockbridge has mentioned that you 
would pay me a small balance due me from him ; you will 
please to give orders to Mr. Kent; as also respecting two or 
three mortgage notices. Do you yet know the result of 
what passed betwixt you and myself at the Court-house an 
evening or two before you left Cooperstown? — Having 
been, I fear, too prolix, I close my letter by assuring you, 
that I am, 

Hon. Sir, your grateful and 
humble servant 

Elihu Phinney. 
Hon. W. Cooper 

Addressed 

Honorable William Cooper 
Philadelphia. 

Cooperstown, Deem. 23, 1799. 
Honored Sir, 

Your kind favor, inclosing Claypool's Daily Advertiser 
came duly to hand, accept my unfeigned thanks for the 
favor. 

Inclosed are a memorial and two affidavits, which you 
are requested to dispose of in the proper manner, and to 
write me the result as soon as known — they are handed to me 
by a former acquaintance, Elisha Freeman, a very honest 
man ; I conclude they will be handed to the Secretary of State. 

Presuming you will not be displeased in knowing the 



i^ome ^Xd betters; 165 

little occurrences in Cooperstown and Vicinity since your 
departure I shall recite such as occur to my mind. 

Bethel Martin has been admitted to bail in $600. 
Reuben Root came and voluntarily surrendered himself on 
hearing you had issued a warrant — he is bailed in $500. Her- 
rington and a Methodist Priest, Frederick Woodward have 
been apprehended and admitted to bail in $500, Alexander 
Truby has been apprehended and stands committed. I have 
written to the Governor, requesting a special commission 
for their Trial, and am informed, not officially that he 
has complied. The guard is still kept up and very good 
order is observed in the Gaol. Mc Donald is liberated and 
is preaching on the Hartwick, much chagrined at not being 
invited to stay in Cooperstown — The Society have sent 
for and obtained a Priest from Johnstown by name of 
Sweetman — B. Wight has resigned his office of Gaoler, 
and Charles Mudge is deputed — Jo. Strong has sued me 
for defamation for saying he had taken fees on both sides. 
I shall want your evidence — he behaves since his late tri- 
umph with more insolence than ever — Geo. Walker has 
got a fine boy, and all well — Capt. Sprague has erected a 
Billiard table; there has as yet been no betting, or very 
trifling and I believe it will demolish card playing, and I 
hope will have no bad effect. — E. Tillotson has given I. 
Ingals a general Power of Attorney and absconded. Calvin 
Wright has become bankrupt, and. contemplates taking the 
Benefit of the Insolvent Act. Old Peck and Co. are inde- 
fatigable in their endeavors to procure an entirely New 
Judiciary for this County — I beg you to be extremely 
cautious as to delivery, my private opinion is opposed to 
the measure. I hope your wish to retire will give way to the 
Public Good — I hope to see you at January Court — 
Shall take the earliest opportunity of informing you of 
every occurrence of moment. 



1 66 Hegentrif of a iBtortfjem County 

The election of Mr. Sedgwick to the Chair is a happy 
presage of the predominance of Federal principles in the 
House of Representatives — I find the Senate has given a 
sort of silent disapprobation of the late Mission to France, 
that is a subject, in my opinion, which should be delicately 
handled. It is certainly unpalatable; but may be politi- 
cally expedient. 

Must we be still plagued, cheated and insulted, by that 
Pest to Society, that Scourge to Cooperstown, Jo. Strong 
as Post-master? It is the united wish of all true friends to 
the interest of the County that an honest man should be 
appointed. Perceiving you begin to yawn at the prolixity 
of this epistle, I shall close by wishing you health and 
happiness — 

I remain, 

Honored Sir, 

your unfeigned Friend and 
humble servant 
E. Phinney. 
Honorable William Cooper, 
in Congress, 

Philadelphia 

Cooperstown Feb. 21, 1800 

Hon'd Sir, 

I sent you about 6 weeks ago 2 packages enclosing peti- 
tions and affidavits from some men in Worcester, accom- 
panied by a letter giving a circumstantial account of the 
little occurrences in Cooperstown and having received no 
acknowledgment of the receipt of the same I fear they have 
miscarried, or, that the infamous Scape goat has suppressed 
your answer. Be so good as send me word thro' the Cherry- 
Valley Post-office, for the continued villainy of Jo Strong is 
insufferable. Last Sunday the mail lay over till Monday 



i^ome d^lb ILttttxsi 167 

morning; nor could any one except his small junto procure 
either a letter or paper, altho' on Sunday evening repeated 
applications were made, and the room constantly full of 
people. 

You have no doubt, ere this heard that the late honorable 
Council on the last day of their sitting ordered a Super- 
sedeas for me. The County is alive with indignation and 
apprehension. I cannot predict what the result will be; 
but hope for the best. Your son Richard is so busily en- 
gaged in the business as to almost prevent his attention to 
any other. 

I remain, Hon. Sir, 

with great respect 

your obedt. humble servt. 
E. Phinney. 
Hon. W. Cooper 

Eliphalet Nott to Judge Cooper 

Cherry Valley Dec. 2 1796. 
To Judge Cooper — Sir — 

Your goodness will pardon me for troubling you on a 
subject so uninteresting to yourself. My reasons are partly 
the intimations you gave me at Cooperstown, of affording 
me some assistance provided I purchased the half of Mr 
Waldo's farm — but more especially the hiunanity of your 
character — Mr Waldo has obtained from Wm Banior in 
behalf of Clark a durable Lease of his farm — &c — I have 
bought of Mr Waldo & am to make all the payments before 
the first of April next — I wish to hire eight or nine hun- 
dred dollars to be paid in yearly pa5mients two hundred 
dollars cash — 

Now Sir if you will be so kind as to direct Mr Kent to let 
me have the whole or part of the some mentioned you will 



1 68 ILegenbjs of a ^ovtfitm Countj» 

greatly oblige one of your fellow creatures, 'tho not a per- 
sonal acquaintance — As security I will propose Judg. 
Hudson, Luther Rich or 0. L. Waldo, as sharers of the ob- 
ligations in company with me — or give you a mortgage of 
the farm — I am sensible Sir it may cause you some 
trouble being so far off — but the obligingness of your char- 
acter assures me your assistance notwithstanding if it be with- 
in your power — I wash you sir, to be so kind as to write me 
what you will do respecting the business as soon as it is con- 
venient — and if 3^ou can do me this favor at all or any part of 
it — you will please to write to Mr Kent on the subject . . . 
I am sir with great esteem & 
Respect your 

Friend & most 

Obed 

Jud. Cooper- Eliphalet Nott. 

I insert this letter to Judge Cooper to show that 
"G. Washington" was a landholder in our vicinity, as 
were also Necker and Madame de Stael. 

Sir— 

The lands which I hold on, or near the Mohawk river, are 
in Partnership with Mr. Clinton (late Gov- of New York) 
who has had, and continues still to have by a power of 
Attorney the disposal of them. 

It is not in my power to inform you at what price he has 
lately sold any — but of this you can easily be informed by a 
line to that Gentleman or if you desire it, I will write to 
him myself on the subject. 

I am Yr Obed*^ Ser. 
o . , , G. Washington. 

Saturday I 
20thFebyf ^796 



feomc 0lh ILtittti 169 

I have nothing to show where "G. Washington's" 
land was situated. James Necker's tract consisted 
of twenty- three thousand acres, in McComb's Pur- 
chase, St. Lawrence County; part was in town num- 
ber Six and part in " Fitzwilliam " ; both in the third 
allotment. 

Necker and Judge Cooper had a partnership agree- 
ment as to this land, still existing among my old papers. 
It was with reference to it that Necker's daughter, after 
his death, wrote as follows: 



Coppet — on the 17th of October 1804 
Switzerland 
Sir,— 

I have received the agreement you have made for my 
lands, with M'"? Morris and LeRay. I sent to M''? Le-Ray 
and Bayard, my respectable correspondents, the author- 
isation to accept, or refuse, or modificate the agreement. 

They have all my trust. If they accept, I shall be very 
happy to entertain an en sut correspondance with you. 
And I am sure by the praises which my friends have given 
to your character, that you will not consider this transac- 
tion as a mere affair of interest, but that you will take pleas- 
ure in increasing the fortune of a mother of three children, 
and of a daughter of M. Necker. I pray you. Sir, to 
render our communication rapid, what ever may be the 
distance which separates us, to send your letters open 
to me, by the way of M"".^ LeRay and Bayard, they will 
join their observations to your letters, and I shall answer 
immediately. 

Excuse me, Sir, for my ignorance of a foreign language. 



170 Hegenbjf of a i^ortfiem Count? 

I can read it perfectly well, but this is the first time I did 
venture to write in it. 

In every language, believe me. Sir, 
yours &c 

Necker B'*^ Stael de 
holstein. 
M'' le juge Cooper. 

Hannah Cooper to her brother Isaac. 

This letter is undated but is indorsed ' ' Miss Cooper, 
June 25.-July 3rd., 1798, received in Albany." It is 
interesting as showing that Isaac Cooper went to school 
at Reverend Thomas Ellison's at Albany, where James 
was sent two years later. The "Jim" mentioned is 
James Fenimore Cooper. 

Mr. Isaac Cooper 

Reverend Thomas Ellison 
Albany, 

Nancy tells me in her letter that you ask me to write to 
you. I am happy to do it, or any thing else my dear 
Brother that you wish — but should have been more happy 
if the request had been made in a letter of your own. I 
should have been pleased with the attention, but now hope 
I shall soon have the pleasure of hearing from you, pray 
how do you like Albany ? what are your studies ? and who 
your companions? the last thing is of vast consequence, 
and I sincerely hope you may not become intimate or ac- 
quainted with the low, vicious Boys of which you have so 
many around you. Mama is much better, the Boys are 
well, Jim has grown almost as large as William, the Doctor 



^ome <0lti Hetters! 171 

has grown also, they are very wild and show plainly they 
have been bred in the Woods, they go to school and are 
learning Latin. I do not know what progress they make, 
but hope you will make a great improvement in your learn- 
ing, pray write soon and believe me your affectionate sister 

Anna Cooper 

Philadelphia June 25 

While this letter is signed "Anna Cooper" it was 
written by Hannah, who seems to have been at that 
time often called Anna. Nancy was her younger 
sister Anna who became Mrs. George Pomeroy and for 
whom the old stone house was built on the corner of 
River and Main streets. 

Judge Cooper made every effort to educate his sons. 
In addition to the schools at Cooperstown, two of them, 
probably William and Richard, went to a school in 
Schenectady. Isaac and James went to Rev. Thomas 
Ellison's, at St. Peter's Rectory, Albany. James went 
to Yale and was expelled in his junior year, William 
went to Princeton and was also expelled, I think. I do 
not know what, if any, colleges the others went to. 

Hannah Cooper to 
Mr. Isaac Cooper, 
Mrs. Simmons, 

No. 7 North Sixth Street, Philadelphia 

Dear Isaac You observe I begin in this old fashioned way 
— being so sensible of your worth since your absence — that 
no address save an affectionate one would correspond with 
my sentiments. I have just returned from hearing a new 



172 ILegenbiS of a i^ortlj^nt Countj> 

Minister, who is offered a situation here — his name is Lewis 
— from New England — his discourse was very agreeable — 
could we get him — we shall have no occasion to lament Mr 
Mc Donald's absence. Our friend and neighbour Mrs. 
Dunham is below — about to take a Sunday's dinner with 
us — and little Amelia Osborne these two with A. B. are all 
we have in addition to our own number — and I suppose 
you think a part of these sufficient to make us happy — her 
amiable manners and character do indeed delight us, but 
we are beginning to anticipate her loss — which most prob- 
ably will now shortly happen — Ann has been writing to 
her. there you must look for particulars — Saw Katy 
and Cousin at Church — a pretty looking little girl this last — 
The Doctor visits us sometimes, he pines after you — at 
least he says so. I do not know if you Gentlemen be sincere 
when you say such things of each other, when speaking of 
the ladies, we do not expect truth. Uncle James has re- 
moved to the Mills. Of course our Hartwick rides are 
less frequent than formerly — the New Bridge, *' Isaac and 
Mary," has been carried away by the flood — at least ma- 
terially damaged. I hope this is not an unhappy prog- 
nostic — The girls I conclude have informed you that 
Capt. Cooper has left us — What do you mean by abusing 
the Philadelphia ladies, they are very handsome, and very 
elegant I am sure. — Write to me to explain this matter 
and consider me your affectionate sister — 

Hannah Cooper 

Cooperstown April 13th 1800 

Hannah Cooper to Isaac Cooper, 

Cooperstown, April 26 1800 

My dear Isaac — We are as well as can be expected — yes 
as well as can be expected, for two hours ago — the amiable 



^ome 0lti Uttttxii 173 

interesting and channing M. A. M. left us — You have 
been remiss in not writing lately 

Henry complains — Nancy scolds — there is another who 
feels it although she neither complains nor scolds — We 
wish to have particular accounts of you — when are we to 
look for you home? This summer or not? Take care of 
your old stockings and bring them with you, in haste your 
affectionate sister 

Hannah Cooper 
Mr. Isaac Cooper. 

"Charming M. A. M." was Mary Ann Morris, who a 
little later married Isaac Cooper. Fenimore Cooper in 
his unfinished Sketch of Otsego Hall mentioned her as 
having spent part of the winter of 1800 there. 

William Cooper to 

William Cooper Junior 
Princeton College, 

New Jersey July 9, 1800 

Dear William 

You have not written me since my return to Coopers- 
town. I am anxious to hear of your advancement, and 
calculate on your being the first of scholars, knowing that 
your abilities and memory are equal to any of your age; 
and you have everything to make you ambitious ; here is a 
great country and no young man has such an opportunity 
as yovu-self of being the first man in it. On your industry 
depends whether you are to be the great good and useful 
man — or nothing. I have it in contemplation to send 
you to Edinborough or London for two or three years 
before you launch into life and after you have the sanction 



174 ILt^tntiSi of a Movtf)ttn Countj> 

of that first of schools at Princeton, to which you may if you 
please be an Honour and make its tutors and governors 
Proud to claim you as a Product of that institution ; and I 
will say it again — you have the ability and may if you will 

Wm. Cooper. 

On the inside of this sheet is the following by Hannah 
Cooper : 

Dear Brother — it is very late at night — nobody in the 
house up — save myself — and Mama, who is playing upon the 
Organ — this amusement engages her every night after the 
family have separated, and very pretty effect it has, being 
not unlike a serenade, which you know is the manner of 
courting with the Spaniards — it must be charming for the 
Spanish Belles — but very toilsome for their Beaus — The 
Weather is now uncommonly warm here, our fourth of July 
passed very brilliantly away — there were not any fire works 
but the Masonic Hall was handsomely illuminated — the 
Lads and Lasses repaired in the evening to our House — 
and we had quite a large party to dance "rallying round our 
library " Sister Nancy has not returned from Sister Mary's 
yet. We expect her in a day or two Mr. Fitch has 
Richard's Farm — he removes there shortly. Doctor grows 
quite tall, is nearly as large as James — the family desire 
their love, — Good night — may your dreams be sweet 

Your loving sister Hannah Cooper 
Cooperstown July 12, 1800 

J. Fenimore Cooper to Isaac Cooper 

Albany Sept. 5 1801 

Corporal 

I sit down to write to you by the desire of Mrs. Ellison 
who wishes me to ask you to send by the most careful person 



^ome 0\h Uttttxsi 175 

you can find coming this way the very finest piece of cambric 
musHn you have got, in your Store. Such as Mrs. Banyer 
got. Sisters & Papa left this, this morning Papa gave me 
70 dollars for to pay some debts and as I went to Mr. 
Banyers to see them start I either lost them a going or after 
I came to Mr. Banyers I do not know which, I searcht for 
them but they have not yet shown their faces, Sisters both 
where in good health, likewise Papa, Lieut. Cooper is a 
recruiting here, you must excuse mistakes bad writing as I 
am in a great hurry. 

James Cooper 
Mr. Isaac Cooper 
Cooperstown. 

W. Cooper to B. Walker 
Dear Sir 

the land is yet in despute. I have obtained two decrees 
against Judge Livingston, he now apply s to the court of 
Errors. I think that it belongs to him, if to me a division 
will be desirable. 

why are you not at the Post of duty, of Honour, of danger, 
of Every thing that is disquieting to a man whose views are 
honest, of Everything that is instructive to the man who 
wishes to learn the art of, Hook & Snivery — if there is such 
a word, or if their is not, I now make it. 

Adieu 

Wm. Cooper. 

Jany. 6, 1802 
B Walker Esq. 

J. H. Imlay visited Judge Cooper at Cooperstown in 
the summer of 1800, with General Bloomfield. It is to 
this visit which he refers repeatedly in his letters. He 



: 



176 Itgaiiis of 3 ^OTi^rn Ccrattp 



evidoitly was in love w^^ 

1810, the date of his la^ 

Hisc:~ :. - 



- .rt, W3S wnt: . 

: . j: Mrs. Me: :v a Miss W 



anc a .^^r^ 



. \ I " -„ 


^.-i. 


.Ne^ 


Y:: 


, 


-^ 






- - - - - ^ 




~ 




. rr:^ to 


as 







South Side 

Sacred to the M<sxKry a£ 

\Css Haimih Cooper. Duster 

of the Hoo^ William Cooper 

and KKwhfth his Wife. 

1^ the bloom of Yontii. in perfect 

heahh, and smiouad ed wi^ her 

Virtiies 

On the loth day of Septemb^. iSoo 

She was iztstan^ tran^ted from 

this Wcrld 
Thrown firam her horse, oq the spot 



#& Xrnrrs 



oo winch this mannrrr^'^' : : :e<L 

Sensibfe, gentir 
In Hfe betoved. in dei : r a- : 

Bv all TTi:,^ 1 



V 



178 ILegentisi of a jBtortfient Count|» 

North Side 

For thee, sweet Maid, 

Resplendent beams of thought, 

Wisdom's rich love. 

By Seraph's hands, were given 

Thy spotless soul, 

The pure effulgence caught, 

It sparkled — was exhaled — 

And went to Heaven. 

'Twas thine — 

To animate life's swift career, 

Mild — modest — artless — 

Innocently gay, 

'Twas thine — to fill an higher 

Nobler sphere — 

With sainted spirits 

In the realms of day. 

Thy native worth 

With diamond pen enrolled, 

Beyond this sculptured 

Monument shall live. 

And charity — 

Of fair ethereal mould 

A lasting tribute 

To thy memory give. 



^ome 0lti ILtittxsi 179 

East Side 

The sculptured marble 

The recording tomb, 

Shall mouldering perish 

In the hand of time. 

Thy weeping friends, 

Be gathered to their home 

And memory cease 

To mark thy shrine. 

Some hoary moss, 

Some drooping willow'd shade. 

Or decent sod, 

Or still more humble dust 

Shall guard the spot 

Where thou art laid 

In long 

Oblivious silence lost. 

Yet shall thy virtues. 

Thou dear sainted maid, 

By friends transmitted 

Thro' succeeding years ; 

Be still remembered 

'Til e'en time shall fade, 

When thou released 

From mortal cares. 



i8o Htqtntm of a i^tottfjem Count? 

Shall live triumphant 
In a happier world — 

J. A. Imlay to R. F, Cooper 

Allen Town New Jersey Mar. 29th 1803 

My dear Sir 

... I greet you with my best friendship and good 
wishes. The recollection of the many happy hours, which 
my last visit to Cooperstown afforded me, has often induced 
the wish to become an inhabitant of your pleasant and 
charmingly situated village — But alas! With that desire 
is associated the recollection of a catastrophe at once the 
most melancholy, the most painful, and affective of my 
life, even time itself — which with lenient hand — is said to 
mitigate sorrow — and reconcile affliction — will never from 
my mind efface the recollection of that event — no, I shall 
ever remember — and ever lament it — . . . 

I most sincerely and fervently reciprocate the good 
wishes of yourself — and the family — and I beg you to pre- 
sent me to each one — in terms of the most cordial good will 
and regards — and believe me — 

Very sincerely your 

friend 

J. H. Imlay. 

P. S. Miss J. Imlay feels herself much gratified in the 
kind remembrance of her — by your sister and desires to 
present her love in return. 

Richard F. Cooper, esquire 
Coopers Town 

Otsego Co., 
New York. 



^omc 0lb ILttttta i8i 

Alexander Hamilton to Judge Cooper. 

New York, September 6, 1802 

Dear Sir 

I congratulate you and myself on your victory over 
Brockholst. Whether your interest is much promoted by it 
or not is of small consequence — In the triumph of vanquish- 
ing such an enemy. That you know was your principal in- 
ducement and I know that you will be willing to pay well 
for it. 

I have been deliberating whether to charge you 200 or 
100 pounds for my services in this cause. In fixing upon 
the latter, I am afraid I shall offend you. But I love to 
show my moderation & therefore whether you are angry or 
not I will only have One hundred. 

This I beg you to remit without delay — I have been 
building a fine house and am very low in cash ; so that it will 
be amazingly convenient to me to touch your money as 
soon as possible. 

I wish you many pleasant moments and that you may be 
able to steer clear of the Court of Errors. I have fought 
so hard for you that I am entirely exhausted. 

Yours with great regard, 

A. Hamilton 

The Brockholst referred to was Brockholst Living- 
ston and the dispute was over the title to certain 
lands in the western part of the State. 

Aaron Burr to Judge Cooper 

Philada 26 Feb. 1793 

Sir:— 

Upon my arrival in this city a few days past, I had the 
pleasure to receive your letter of the 19th ult. which had I 
suppose lain some time in the office here during my absence. 



i82 Uesenbi of a J^ortijetn Cauntj> 

I thank you much for your Civility in regard of the 
K. Kill Land, but I observe with extreme surprize that you 
would suppose me capable of deceiving or misleading you in 
the smallest particular. On the 1 8 or 19 Dec Mr. Cutting 
conveyed to me in fee simple all the lands late Griswold 
at K. K. (two or three lots which had been sold excepted) 
together with a small farm at Lonenburgh. I came soon 
after to this City, the Deed and all the papers remaining 
in my possession and having then no intention to part with 
the Land; Indeed I went to some trouble and expense to 
settle the claim of Lott &c. — About the last of Jan. I re- 
turned to N. York and then agreed with Mr. C. to sell 

him the Land again for a certain sum more than I had given, 
and did thereupon re-convey them to him — This sum 
together with that part of the purchase money which I had 
paid, are secured to me by a Mortgage now on record in 
Albany — I believe I apprized you of this reconveyance, 
by Letter written on or about the Day it was executed — 

I beg you to pardon the trouble of this trifling detail, 
(which is intended only to satisfy you of my Candor in the 
business,) and to be assured that I am 
Very respectfully, 

Yr. Obedtt. St. 

Aaron Burr. 

The following letter relates to the building of Christ 
Church, Cooperstown. The copy in my possession 
does not show to whom it was written. 

Cooperstown July 13, 1806 

Dear Sir — 

Your letter on Various subjects has just come to hand — 
which I take in order. 
The vote of the Vestry of Trinity Church to give the 



^ome 0Hi ILttttti 183 

society of Episcopalians in and round Cooperstown, 1500 
Dollars when they had finished the church under contempla- 
tion will no doubt warme the hearts and create a Joy amongst 
them to think they are still had in remembrance by their 
opulent Brethren — as to myself it does not meet fully what 
I expected. Under other circumstances the Donation is a 
liberal one for which the Vestry ought to be thanked, — but 
as I am not of that Society, tho' I love them, and led into the 
measure solely from the good that is manifest since Mr, 
Nash has brought them together and frequently hearing 
my Poor neighbors lament their inability to bring up their 
children in the way they had been brought by their fathers. 
But three days ago I lodged with a farmer — he had his har- 
vest hands round him — in the morning he called them all to- 
gether, he and his wife kneeling, he read Prayers and all was 
quiet — The effect of such things are better felt than ex- 
pressed but on this ocation it is proper you should know my 
motive for offering to Do what I expect but very few of 
your wealthy members within the Pale of your church 
would do for their own cause — tho' I consider it as Every 
Mans cause — and I have thought for two or more years 
back that our political welfare depended much on adhearing 
to the rules of religion — But I cannot act under a mark of 
suspicion — had the donation been in $500. annual instal- 
ments and mine the same — I could have gone on with the 
Church — yet I should then have thought the great wealth 
of your church ought to give $500 more than an Individual 
not of that Church — I am conscious that the Vestry may 
have had their donations illy appropriated, but in all my 
undertakings had one not been carried into effect — they 
might suspect this to fail and by a careful vote first see my 
money paid for the Church; and if done to Expectations, 
refunded Part — religious societys ought not to grind their 
Poor connections or liberal friends. 



1 84 Hegenbji of a J^ortijem Countp 

The Vestry gave to Utica Church $2,000. around which 
all the rich are Churchmen — not so here — all the Rich are 
Presbyterians and other persuasions. I wish you would 
get them to change the business so I can act as with my 
friends — and the church shall be done, God willing. 

W 
(unaddressed copy) 

Lady Hay to Richard F. and Isaac Cooper 

Quebec — 17th March — 18010 

Will the much estimated sons of an invaluable, lamented 
Friend, accept of the sincere condolence and unaffected 
sympathy of One who tho' not personally acquainted with 
you is no Stranger to your worth — Which was the Theme, 
and Pride of him, that swerved not from Truth, who it has 
pleased Heaven to deprive you of — Yours My Friends, per- 
mit me to rank you so, is a loss in which many will partici- 
pate, for universal philanthropy and Benevolence of Heart, 
in continual exercise for the welfare of his Fellow creatures, 
were the leading Characteristics of your now Sainted 
Father — As to myself, much have I been indebted to him 
for Friendship and attention to my Interest, which for 
many years he has been so good as to take charge of — and 
had I been deprived of a Brother I cou'd not have felt it 
more — Nor ever, will the recollection of his many acts of 
kindness, be obliterated from my memory — To every In- 
dividual of your Family I can never be indifferent, and beg 
of you to present me, as a partaker in their Grief to your 
respected Mother and Sister, the latter of whom, I have 
understood to be the amiable counter-part of the dear de- 
parted Hannah Cooper who I had the utmost affection 
for and therefore am convinced how deeply She is afflicted. 
My Draft, excuse my speaking upon Business, for Two 



^ome 0lti JLttttva 185 

Hundred Dollars, was Protested, owing I suppose to the 
Tenant of my House in Fair Street not coming forward in 
due time with the quarters Rent payable the ist of Nov. 
but was afterwards paid — and if you will excuse the liberty 
I take in saying, if you wou'd be so very good as to get 
somebody in New York to receive the Feb. Quarter, I 
should be very much obliged — The Tenant is Mrs. Violetta 
Taylor — No. 34 Fair Street — The Rent Five Hundred and 
Twenty five Dollars pr. year — Directing it, at the same 
time to be mentioned to her the hope and expectation that 
she will be ready as soon as possible after the ist of May, 
with the quarters Rent then due — Soon after which Period 
(My Husband having obtained a short leave of absence 
from his Regiment for the purpose of accompanying me) I 
shall have the pleasure of calling upon you at Cooper's Town, 
in my way to New York, and conferring with you on the 
Business, that my late excellent Friend so kindly took 
charge of, meanwhile do me the favor to believe, you nor 
yours, have not a more sincere well-wisher than — 

Ann Hay. 

On the 24th of April, my Best of Friends sold for me 
through the Medium of Mr. Leonard Bleecker Broker at 
New York Twenty One shares that I held in the Bank of 
Jersey, and bought in their stead Eighteen Shares in 
the Combined Bank of Manhattan and Utica — Which he 
judged better for me from it's being nearer Canada, and 
more to my advantage from it's giving Surplus Dividends — 
The Shares are in the name of your Father, and I have his 
acknowledgment that they are mine — May I crave your 
attention to such Interest as may result from it — But 
as from some particular reasons, this circumstance has 
been known only to your Father, My Sister in Law Miss 
Hay, and myself wou'd wish it, if you please, to rest con- 



1 86 Hegenbii of a ^oxtf^ttn €ovmtp 

fidentially with his Successors, or shou'd it be too trouble- 
some to them, at least until I shall have the satisfaction of 
seeing them — Nevertheless, as I shou'd be singularly obliged 
by your taking the trouble to say you have received this, 
and that you are to be at Home in the month of May, I 
shall consider it a still further favor that you only Notice 
this last mentioned matter by Observing that you have a 
perfect knowledge of the extent of the Trust reposed by me in 
your late most truly Good Father — accept my best apologies 
for all this trouble. — 

The writer of the foregoing, Ann Hay, was at the 
time Lady Hay; she was the daughter of Sheffield 
Howard, a younger son of the Duke of Norfolk, who 
married his tutor's sister and came to New York. 
Howard was a great friend of Judge Cooper's and be- 
fore his death asked the Judge to care for his daughter. 
She married first, Major Charles Bingham, and their 
daughter, Ann Howard Bingham, married Clement 
Biddle Penrose. 

Ann Hay's correspondence is very amusing and 
voluminous; she devotes much thought to concealing 
from her husbands the whereabouts and amount of her 
property. She was always in need of money ; wrote on 
very heavy, fine paper with gilded edge, and with a 
most flattering and persuasive pen. 

The large number of her letters which are still among 
Judge Cooper's correspondence almost justify the en- 
thusiasm of the writer of the following, which is inserted 



^ome C^lb ILtttttsi 187 

here, out of its chronological order, so as to follow the 
one letter of hers included among those selected as bear- 
ing on the early days of Cooperstown and its people : 

J. H. Imlay to Wm. Cooper 

AUentown June 15th, 1805. 
My dear Friend 

Your favour of the 1 8th ult. did not reach me until a few 
days since owing to my absence from home, dancing at- 
tendance on the long, troublesome, vexcatious and expensive 
lawsuit of my mothers before the Court of Chancery of your 
State which has been sitting for sometime in New York — 
It was set down for Argument in August last — but the 
death of the great, and good, and ever to be lamented 
Hamilton prevented the hearing then coming on — It was 
again set down for argument about the middle of May last, 
and continued from day to day, under the hope and ex- 
pectation that it would have a hearing — when the Chan- 
cellor about loth inst. adjourned the Court — So it is — 
put in the glorious uncertainty, the abominable vexcation 
and procrastination of the law — of which professionaly and 
otherwise I am heartily sick and tired — This suit has now 
in some way or shape been pending between 8 and 9 years — 
and has in one way and another cost upwards of $700, 
besides all my trouble, time &c. &c. and what may be worse 
than all the rest, is, I fear, that the loss of Hamilton, may 
be attended with a loss of the cause. 

A few days after the receipt of your letter, I reed, one 
from your friend Mrs. Hay — I need not tell you how cheer- 
fully & with what alacrity I shall attend to the request 
expressed in your letter — And make it my particular and 
personal business to see the land — and obtain the best in- 



1 88 Hegenbs! of a J^ortfjem Countp 

formation, as to the value thereof & the terms of compromise 
& settlement — and ad^■ise her thereof, without delay — 
But pra\', my friend, who is this female friend of yours? I 
seem to have some sort of recollection of her, but so im- 
perfect as to amount to nothing — Her letter in every 
respect does her very great credit — and except the letters 
of her, who alas! alas! is no more — whose hard, hard fate 
I can never cease to lament — whose many excellencies & 
virtues, I delight to recollect & mention, and whose memory 
I must always cherish and love, it is one of the best letters 
from a female, I ever saw — Independent of your recom- 
mendation, the letter of your friend would secure to her my 
best services & exertions — The style and manner of her 
letter is at once so truly polite, so bland, urbane, handsome, 
that I am extremely desirous to become acquainted with 
and learn her life history — of which last, I must beg you to 
inform me as early as possible — These have led me to 
form an opinon of her which I have much curiosity to know 
how far it is correct — And as I shall have shortly to write 

to Mrs. H , I should -u-ish to hear from you previous 

thereto — I have not since the simimer of 1800 felt much 
like getting in love — but really the st3'le and manner of the 
letter of your friend are so much like those of her, whose 
memory I have just alluded to, that I am not without much 
admiration, I desire of an acquaintance with your friend — 
I wish to write a line to Richard, by our mail of to day — 
must therefore conclude, with the assurances of my affec- 
tionate regards & good will to yourself & the family — 
I am yours &c 

J. H. Imlay 
Addressed — 

The Honble Judge Cooper 
Cooperstown 
New York 



^ome 0lh ILttttvsi 189 

J. H. Imlay to R. F. Cooper 

AUentown Febuy 12 18 10 
My Friend 

Not until a short time since did the melancholy intelli- 
gence that Judge Cooper was no more reach me. As a 
friend from whom I had reed many acts of kindness & good 
will — and the father of yourself and of her whose memory I 
yet love, and hold in great veneration and affection, much 
do I lament his death — and tenderly & sincerely sympa- 
thize with yourself & family in your affliction & bereave- 
ment. 

Said your sister to me, in our last walk along the Banks of 
your river on the evening before I left Coopers Town — as 
passing by the Grave Yard in the rear of your Father's 
House — "how long, think you, it may be, ere myself or you 
— and many more of our friends, may become inhabitants 
of that Mansion " ? pointing to the Grave Yard — I replied — 
"I hope long." "Ah! no" — she said — as to herself — "it 
will not be long — Some ten — twenty or thirty years will 
number us all among its inhabitants. What an inch of 
time — What a drop in the great ocean of eternity — " 
Prophetic words indeed as to herself 'Tho sometimes — 

' ' So concealed the hour and remote the fear — 
" Death still draws nearer — never seeming near" 

and with great truth does the poet add — 

"Great Standing miracle! That Heaven assigned" 
"Its only thinking thing, this turn of mind" 

When your feelings and convenience will permit, will you 
oblige me with some account of your Father's illness & 



190 ICegenbs! of a iBtortfjem Count? 

death — And accept for yourself & the family, the unfeigned 
sympathy and condolence of 

Your friend 



Richard F. Cooper. Esq. 
Coopers Town 
New York 



J. H. IMLAY 



James Fenimore Cooper to R. F. Cooper 

New York, May iSth, 1810 

I wrote you yesterday, a letter in a great hurry, as its 
contents are of some importance, I employ the leisure time 
offered today, to inform you more fully of m}' %'iews. 

When you were in the city, I hinted to you, my intention 
of resigning at the end of this session of congress, should 
nothing be done for the navy — my only reason at that time 
was the blasted prospects of the ser%'ice. I accordingly 
wrote my resignation and as usual offer'd it to Capt. Law- 
rence, for his inspection — he very warmly recommended to 
me to give the service the trial of another year or two, at 
the same time offering to procure me a furlough which 
would leave me perfect master of my actions in the interval. 
I thought it wisest to accept this proposition — at the end 
of this year I have it in my power to resign should the 
situation of the Country warrant it. 

Like all the rest of the sons of Adam, I have bowed to 
the influence of the charms of fair damsel of eighteen. I 
loved her like a man and told her of it like a sailor. The 
peculiarity of my situation occasioned me to act with some- 
thing like precipitancy — I am perfectly confident however, 
I shall never have cause to repent of it. As you are cooly 
to decide, I will as cooly give you the qualities of my mis- 
tress. Susan De Lancey is the daughter of a man of very 



^ome 01^ Hetterfl: 191 

respectable connections and a handsome fortune — amiable, 
sweet tempered and happy in her disposition — She has 
been educated in the country, occasionally trying the 
temperature of the City to rub off the rust — but hold a 
moment, it is enough she pleases me in the qualities of her 
person and mind. Like a true Quixotic lover, I made 
proposals to her father — he has answered them in the most 
gentlemanly manner — You have my consent to address my 
daughter if you will gain the approbation of your mother. 
He also informs me that his daughter has an estate in the 
County of Westchester in reversion, secured to her by a 
deed of trust to him, and depend — upon the life of an aunt 
Aetat 72 — so you see. Squire, the old woman cant weather 
it long. I write all this for you — you know I am indifferent 
to anything of this nature. Now I have to request you 
will take your hat and go to mother, the boys, girls, and 
say to them have you any objections that James Cooper 
shall marry at a future day, Susan de Lancey — If any of 
them forbids the bans may the Lord have forgiven them, 
for I never will. Then take your pen and write to Mr. 
De Lancey stating the happiness and pleasure it will give 
all the family to have this connection completed — all this I 
wish you to do immediately as I am deprived of the pleasure 
of visiting my flame, until this be done, by that confounded 
bore delicacy, — be so good as to enclose the letter in one to 
me, at the same time dont forget to enclose a handsome sum 
to square the yards here and bring me up to Cooperstown. 
I wish not to interrupt you in your attempt to clear the 
estate, My expenditures shall be as small as possible. 

Your Brother 

James Cooper. 
Richard Fenimore Cooper Esquire 
Cooperstown 
New York 



192 HegentifiS of a J^ortfjem Count? 

Isaac Cooper to J. Fenimore Cooper 

Cooperstown 15th Dec. 18 17 
My dear Jas, 

Our niece Hannah Cooper was buried on Friday last after 
an illness of a fortnight, a singular, as well as a most savage 
circumstance happened on that day. The Cary Family 
came down to attend the funeral, Cornelius, EHza, Richard's 
wife and two blacks, returned home in the evening, the two 
first after having drank very freely at Mrs. Clarkes stopped 
at Williams Tavern at Pierstown and took an additional 
supply, after which Cornelius took the whip and reins out 
of the servants hands and undertook to drive himself. The 
going being very rough and icy and he driving most furi- 
ously up hill & down, induced those that were able, to get 
out of the waggon — being Richards wife and the two ser- 
vants, leaving the other two in the waggon. Cornelius 
not being sensible that any one was left in but himself con- 
tinued running his Horses full speed till he reached home, 
from habit he was enabled to unharness and put his Horses 
in the stable after which he went to bed, the rest of the 
party who got out, returned about an hour after in the 
dark, through rain & mud, when inquiry was made fof 
Eliza, when upon search she was found dead on the 
bottom of the waggon, having it is presumed fallen 
out of her chair and been jolted to death by the rough- 
ness of the roads. As the story goes Cornelius when 
informed of her death, raised his head a little from the 
pillow, replied "then bury her" turned & took his other 
nap. 

Mrs. Clarke a few days before the death of Poor Hannah 
added a daughter to that unfortunate race. She appears 
overwhelmed with afflictions. The boys are here and look 
very well. 



^ome 0lh Uttttxn 193 

Attend to the De Kalb affairs. Danberry is quite 
uneasy — but they detain the papers — 

Sincerely with respect to wife & 
and all the family 

I. COOFER 

Mrs. Pomeroy buried her 
infant about three weeks ago. 
James Cooper Esq. 
Mamaroneck, 

West Chester N. Y. 

Goldsborough Cooper to R. Cooper 

Hyde April 15, 1827 
Dear Dick 

We have had one cotillion party of which she most prob- 
ably has given you a full description — we danced until 
about three — the gentlemen drank wine as usual, like studs, 
and the girls, whew! how they did go on, they put me quite 
to the blush, and in that case you can imagine their con- 
duct. We have had radishes and sallad for a fortnight 
which I imagine is rather more than you can say of 
gardens in Hudson — we shall soon have cucumbers. 



Gold. 

Richard Cooper Esq. 
Hudson. 

G. Cooper to R. Cooper 

Hyde: I have forgotten the day 
of the month but look at the 
post mark, 1828 

Dear Dick 

Prentiss is soon to take for a handmaid Miss Shankland 
and we have had, are having and are about to have an 
13 



194 Uegentij! of a i^ortfjem Countp 

abundance of parties, glees and merry makings. I was at 
Morehouses wedding party and at Judge Nelsons — and I 
may attend one or two more. Our girls, by these I mean, — 
pooh — you know who I mean, look well, are in fine spirits, 
step freely, and in fine give every indication of proper 
keeping and good condidion. . . . 
Good bye 

Your affec. Brother 

Gold 
Richard Cooper Esq 
Hudson 

Columbia Co. N. Y. 

The following is an invitation to a more formal entertain- 
ment and is, perhaps, the first invitation to dine with a 
"President of the U. States" received by a resident of this 
village. It is in the handwriting of G. Washington and 
while undated as to year was probably sent in either 1796, 
or one of the two following years. 

"The President U. States 
requests the pleasure of 
Mr. Cooper's company to 
dine to-day at three o'clock, 
Saturday 26 Nov." 



TODDSVILLE 

While it is not quite in line with the purpose of these 
sketches to wander into the history of the hamlet of 
Toddsville, I feel that anything bearing on the past 
of the County is worth preserving ; certainly where it is 
as unique as the recollections of a man in his ninety- 
seventh year, born and brought up and now living in 
that community, and with an apparently unimpaired 
memory. Such a man is Samuel Street Todd living in 
the little gothic cottage on the east bank of the Oaks 
Creek and overlooking the picturesque ruins of the old 
mills of Toddsville, and within sight of the four old 
Todd houses built respectively about 1792, 1805, 181 1, 
and one at a later date, now unknown. 

Mr. Todd is bent with years, but clear of mind and 
memory and with a voice of wonderful power and tone ; 
he is, according to his doctor, going to round out his 
full century. To such a man old age can have no 
terror. 

I spent with him two half days and listened to almost 
first-hand tales of the early settlement of the country; 
for remembering himself events back of 1830, he of 

195 



196 Hegenbs; of a i^ortfjem Count? 

course had heard at an age when his memory was most 
receptive, the tales and experiences of his elders. 

The settlement of Toddsville was the story of the 
settlement of many of the little hamlets of western New 
York; the millwrights came from New England. 

Samuel Todd's story was as follows: About the be- 
ginning of the nineteenth century six brothers, of the 
name of Todd, and one sister, came from Wallingford, 
Conn., to the site of Toddsville, where there was a 
water power and a sawmill. The property belonged 
to one Tubbs who had bought three hundred acres 
from Judge Cooper and built the sawmill. The Todds 
bought him out, built a log cabin, and lived in it and in 
the Tubbs house which still stands at the head of the 
Main Street of Toddsville, facing south. They were a 
family of millwrights and of very good New England 
stock; there were Johiah, Lemuel, Caleb, Zira, Bethel, 
and Achel, and the sister, Augusta. My old friend 
was Lemuel's son. They developed the water power 
and built in addition to the sawmill, a gristmill, paper 
mill, and a woolen (knitting) mill. They ran the mills as 
follows: Lemuel and Johiah the gristmill; Johiah the 
woolen mill, and Lemuel the paper and sawmill; Achel 
was a doctor and practiced at Middlefield Centre; 
Bethel went to Poultneyville. I don't know what 
Zira and Caleb did; but Zira built in 181 1 the fine house 
on the west bank of Oaks Creek across from the mill 



^otiti£(btne 197 

site and lived in it; a Zira, or Ira, made mill stones at 
Utica and went to St. Louis; Lemuel lived in the old 
Tubbs house and Johiah built, in 1805, and lived in the 
house across the road from, and east of the mills. 
Caleb's history he did not tell me. Augusta married one 
of the Carrs who were grantees of an adjoining four hun- 
dred acres ; she and her husband lived in that beautiful 
old field-stone house on the road to Fly Creek, dated 
1825. 

Toddsville flourished and grew into a community 
of some hundreds, with upwards of sixty dwellings, 
churches, and shops, until modem competition and 
transportation killed its mills. 

Samuel remembers my great-grandfather. Dr. 
Thomas Fuller, and told with glee how, in a particu- 
larly unhealthy year, Dr. Almy of Toddsville "beat" 
him; I didn't like to ask whether in deaths or cures. 
Dr. Almy bought and lived in Zira Todd's house and 
built the remarkable vault at the foot of the hill in his 
meadow, overlooking the field and the Oaks Creek. 
There, Samuel says, the doctor lies with his daughter. 
The outer doors are ajar but held by fallen masonry; 
the inner door of glass is securely closed. The vault 
interested me, so Samuel told its story as follows : Dr. 
Almy, he said, worshipped it and used to sit in the door- 
way and smoke evenings, and sometimes young Samuel 
sat with him; Mrs. Almy dreaded it, and made her son 



198 ILegenbg of a jBtortfjem Count? 

promise that if she died first he would after his father's 
death, move her body to her family burying ground at 
Sharon; this, in due time, he did, and she lies there with 
the Mullers. 

We had tried to get into the vault and I said, ' ' Some 
night I am coming over to open it." After a moment's 
hesitation, old Samuel said: "One night, when I was 
young, I took a screw driver, got into the vault, and 
opened Mrs. Almy's coffin. She had been lying there 
some time, and her cheeks (indicating with his hands) 
were covered with blue mold ! ' ' 

He said every one in those days went to the Presby- 
terian Church at Cooperstown, so when he was old 
enough to go to church he was taken there ; he described 
the old high pews, taller than he was, and the two-story 
pulpit. The modem pews he spoke of contemptu- 
ously as "slips." He knew where all the old families 
sat — the Bowers, the Fullers, the Prentisses, etc., in- 
cluding the pew of my grandmother in which I suffered 
as a youth. He recalled Richard Cooper and old 
George Clarke and his wife, Ann, and about all the 
prominent residents of the village in those days includ- 
ing my grandfather. 

It was like looking through an open window into the 
past. 

Years ago Charles W. Smith, who married one of my 
mother's sisters, and lived to be nearly as old a man as 



^otibfiibtne 199 

Samuel Todd, wrote out for me a little sketch of Hope 
Factory, and as it throws some light on Toddsville, I 
quote from it. 

"He (Mr. Smith's father) came with others, in 1806, 
after acquiring his trade, to Otsego County, New York, 
and engaged in building a cotton mill on the Oaks Creek 
at Toddsville, called the Union Cotton Manufactury. 
On December 21, 1808, he was specially commissioned 
to go east and purchase such machinery as was re- 
quired for operating. Contract signed by Rufus Steere 
and Jehial Todd. 

' ' The factory was built of wood and burned not many 
years after and was then replaced by one of stone. 

"October, 1809, Mr. Smith was commissioned by the 
Union Cotton Mac'f'g. to build, manage, and carry 
on a cotton mill at Hopeville, having a long ditch to 
convey water from Oaks Creek, nearly half a mile, 
thus obtaining a higher head of water, more permanent 
and admitting use of an overshot, instead of a breast 
wheel for driving the mill. This was to be called Hope 
Factory after one of that name in Rhode Island. 

' ' The building was of wood and was used some fifteen 
years. Mr. Smith's salary was fixed at $2.00 a day 
with firewood and pasturage for horse and cow. 

"September 7, 1824, anew mill of stone was con- 
tracted for, to be erected a few rods from the old mill — 
by Lorenzo Bates, Contractor. Stone from the quar- 



200 Hegenbs; of a iBtorttiem Countj> 

lies of J. R. M. Mills, Evander and Jared Ingalls. 
Twelve hundred bushels of lime furnished by Abram 
Van Home. Carpenter and joining work by Elisha 
Thorneton and George Morris. Cost of this building 
was 112,165.79 ($12,165.79)." 

This new mill of stone is the Hope Factory still 
standing near what is now known as Index. 

Sometime after my talk with old Samuel Todd I had 
curious confirmation of the soundness of his memory. 
He said that the Todd land had come from "Fenimore 
Cooper" and that one Tubbs had intervened between 
William Cooper and their purchase. I doubted this 
and attempted to convince him that the land came from 
William through Tubbs. In looking over some old 
papers I found a contract of sale between Richard 
Fenimore Cooper, the eldest son of William Cooper, 
and Jehiel Todd of Northampton, Mass., dated Jan- 
uary 22d, 1805, providing for the conveyance to Todd 
of "All that farm or tract of land known as Tubbs 
Mills" for the sum of "Six thousand three hundred and 
twenty silver dollars of the United States of America." 
Other papers show that the silver dollars were duly 
paid and the land conveyed by Richard Fenimore 
Cooper to Jehiel. The property must have been a very 
valuable one as the amount paid in 1805 would be the 
equivalent of a sum perhaps ten times as great now. 



JAMES FENIMORE COOPER 

Prior to 1883, Susan Fenimore Cooper repeatedly 
promised me to write her recollections of her father, 
for her nephews and nieces ; a promise which she started 
to fulfill that year by buying a blank book and writing 
an introductory note. She did little more for a number 
of years, until shortly before her death when she began 
seriously to write, but died before she had gotten be- 
yond the early years of her life in Paris, about 1827 
or 1828. 

The following rather disconnected paragraphs I have 
selected to print here as throwing an intimate light on 
Fenimore Cooper's life and character, which appears 
nowhere else, and which ought to be preserved for his 
descendants. 

My first recollections of my dear Father and Mother go 
back to the remote ages when we were living at "Fenimore," 
in the farm-house built by your grandfather. I was then 
about three years old. Some incidents of that time I re- 
member with perfect distinctness, while the intervening 
weeks, or months, are a long blank. 

Occasionally I was taken to the Hall to see my Grand- 
mother, I have a dim recollection of her sitting near a little 

201 



202 Uegenlus of a J^ortJjent Count|> 

table, at the end of the long sofa seen in her picture, with 
a book on the table. She always wore sleeves to the elbow, 
or little below, with long gloves. She took great delight in 
flowers, and the south end of the long hall was like a green- 
house in her time. She was a great reader of romances. 
She was a marvellous housekeeper, and beautifully nice 
and neat in all her arrangements. 

The old negro seen in the picture of the Hall was an im- 
portant personage in the family, he lived with my grand- 
parents twenty years; his name was Joseph, but my Uncles 
often called him "the Governor." As you know he is 
buried in the family ground. His wife Harris married again 
after his death, and lies in the Churchyard, near the front 
fence. My Grandfather gave her a house and lot, on what 
is now Pine Street. Having no children she left that house 
to John Nelson. Harris lived, after my Grandmother's 
death, with the Russells. 

The only one of my Uncles of whom I have any recollec- 
tion was my Uncle Isaac. I remember him distinctly on one 
occasion, when he was dining at the farm-house; he took me 
up in his arms and wanted me to kiss him; but I was shy 
about it. "This young lady does not kiss gentlemen!" 
said your grandfather laughing. I seem to hear him say 
the words now, and I also recollect wondering in an infantile 
way what was their meaning. This is my only recollection 
of my Uncle Isaac. My Mother was much attached to 
him; he was very warm-hearted and affectionate, and very 
benevolent. On one occasion when your Grandfather was 
in the Navy, he came home on a furlough, and my Uncle 
Isaac gave a grand family dinner on the occasion. Your 
Grandfather would seem to have been something of a dandy 
in those days, he sported a queue, would you believe it! 
Some of the young naval officers at that time followed the 
fashion of Napoleon and Nelson, and sported that ap- 



Jamefii Jfenimore Cooper 203 

pendage. Judge of the excitement caused in the family, 
and in the village by the midshipman's pigtail! He soon 
threw it aside. But my Uncle Isaac by a successful 
manoeuvre got possession of it on the day of the dinner 
party, and when the family assembled about the table, 
there, suspended to the chandelier was the young gentle- 
man's pigtail! My Aunt Pomeroy told me the incident. 
My Uncle Isaac died early in consequence of an accident. 
He was paying a visit, with my Aunt Mary, to General 
Morris' family at the Butternuts, and one day after dinner 
was wrestling in fun with his brother-in-law Richard Morris, 
when he was thrown with some force against the railing 
of the piazza, injuring his spine. He lingered for a year 
or more, but abcesses formed, and he died at last of 
exhaustion. 

My Mother always spoke kindly of her brothers-in-law. 
My Uncle William was wonderfully clever, quite a genius, a 
delightful talker, very witty. My Uncle Richard was a 
handsome man with remarkably fine manners; my Grand- 
father De Lancey, who had seen the best society in Eng- 
land said he was "a very well bred man." He was very 
intimate with Mr. Gouldsborough Banyer, and named his 
eldest son after him. My Uncle Sam was clever, but under- 
sized, and eccentric. My Mother has often said they were 
all fine tempered men. 

There was a romantic mystery hanging over the Lake at 
that time — a mysterious bugle was heard in the summer 
evenings, and moonlight nights — now from the Lake, now 
from the wooded mountain opposite "Fenimore." "There 
is the bugle ! ' ' my Father would call out, and all the family 
would collect on the little piazza to listen. I remember 
hearing the bugle frequently, and being aware, in a baby 
fashion, of the excitement on the subject. No one knew 
the performer. It was some mysterious stranger haunting 



204 Hegenbs! of a iBtortf)ent Count? 

the mountain opposite "Fenimore," for several months. 
So my Aunt Pomero}' told me in later years. 

My Father played the flute, in those days! His flute 
remained among the family possessions for some years. 

Family Lake parties were frequent in those days — they 
always went to the Point, which 3-our Great-Grandfather 
had selected for that purpose only a few years after the 
\^llage was founded. 

My Aunt Pomeroy has told me that the first Lake party 
she remembered took place when she was quite a young 
girl, the Lake was almost entirel}' surrounded with forest. 
Game was still abundant, and on that occasion the gentle- 
men of the party pursued and killed a deer in the Lake. 
Bears and wolves were common then, and panthers also. 
The bears would lie dormant in the caves on the hill sides, 
and my Aunt said she had often heard the wolves howl on 
the ice in the Lake, in winter. The first Lake Party was 
given by my Grandfather to some friends from Philadelphia. 
A beech-tree was chosen, on the Point, and the initials of 
the party carved on it. I have seen the tree, and the ini- 
tials of my Grandfather and Grandmother, W. C. and E. C., 
cut in the bark. But it has long since vanished. 

About the same time that the first Lake party took place 
there was a terrific fire in the forest, my Aunt said there 
was a circle of flames entirely surrounding the Lake, and 
apparently closing in about the village to the southward, 
as the woods came ver}* near the little town at that time. 
There was serious alarm for a day or two. At night she 
said the spectacle was very fine. But everybody was 
anxious. Happily a heavy rain quenched the flames 
before they reached the little \'illage. 

In winter there was a great deal of skating. My Uncle 
Richard, and my Uncle William were particularly accom- 
plished in that way, very graceful in their movements, and 



Sfametf Jfenimore Cooper 205 

cutting very intricate figures on the ice. So I have been 
told. 

We had not been long at Mamaroneck when a change in 
the family plans took place. Instead of returning to 
Cooperstown, after a six months visit, it was decided that 
my father should build a country-house on a farm that was 
destined for my Mother by my Grandfather. This farm 
was on a hill in Scarsdale, four miles from Mamaroneck. 
The question once decided my Father went to work with 
his usual eagerness and in a few months the house was built, 
and we took possession. The farm was called Angevine, 
the name of the Huguenot tenants who had preceeded us. 
The view from the hill was fine, including a long stretch of 
the Sound, and Long Island beyond. The house consisted 
of a centre, and two wings, one of these was the common 
sitting room, the other was the "drawing-room." Little 
did my dear Father foresee when he planned and built that 
room, that within its walls he should write a book, and be- 
come an author! In general his thoughts seem to have 
turned upon ships, and the sea, and farming, and landscape 
gardening. I can remember trotting around after him 
while he was planning a sweep, and a ha-ha fence, — a 
novelty in those days. He set out many trees. 

During the winter after we had taken possession there 
was a grand house-warming party. As I look back the 
rooms seem to me to have been crowded with gaily dressed 
ladies, and their cavaliers. I particularly remember my 
Aunt Caroline, wearing a pink silk spencer, and dancing. 
And this was the only occasion in which I ever saw my 
Father dance. 

My Father was much interested in Agricultural matters 
in those days. He belonged to the Ag. Soc. of the County, 
and I remember the making of a flag to be hoisted at the 
annual fair; there was a black plough, and the words West 



2o6 Hegenbs; of a jSorttem Count? 

Chester Agricultural Society in large, black letters on the 
white ground, a joint effort of genius on the part of Father 
and Mother, while two little girls looked on in admiration. 
But our Father figured also as a military character at that 
time; Governor Clinton made him his aide-de-camp, with 
the rank of Colonel, and more than once we little girls had 
the pleasure of admiring him in full uniform, blue and buff, 
cocked hat and sword, mounted on Bull-head before pro- 
ceeding to some review. He was thus transferred from the 
naval to the land service. To the last days of his life, Mr. 
James de Peyster Ogden, one of his New York friends 
never omitted giving him his title of "Colonel." He thus 
became one of the numerous army of American Colonels, 
though not one of the ordinary type certainly. 

He always read a great deal, in a desultory way. Mili- 
tary works, travels. Biographies, History — and novels! 
He frequently read aloud at that time to my Mother, in the 
quiet evenings at Angevine. Of course the books were all 
English. A new novel had been brought from England in 
the last monthly packet; it was I think one of Mrs. Opie's or 
one of that school. My Mother was not well, she was lying 
on the sofa, and he was reading this newly imported novel 
to her ; it must have been very trashy ; after a chapter or two 
he threw it aside exclaiming, ' ' I could write you a better book 
than that myself!" Our Mother laughed at the idea as the 
height of absurdity — he who disliked writing even a letter, 
that he should write a book! He persisted in his declara- 
tion however, and almost immediately wrote the first pages 
of a tale, not yet named, the scene laid in England, as a 
matter of course. 

He soon became interested, and amused with the under- 
taking, drew a regular plot, talked over the details with our 
Mother, and resolved to imitate the tone, and character of 
an English tale of the ordinary type. After a few chapters 



STames; Jf enimore Cooper 207 

were written he would have thrown it aside, but our dear 
Mother encouraged him, to persevere, why not finish it, 
why not print it ? This last idea amused him greatly. He 
usually wrote in the drawing-room, and after finishing a 
chapter always brought my Mother in to hear it. One 
day he left the room, the door was open and I went in, and 
retired under the writing-table which was covered with a 
cloth, for a play with my doll. Father and Mother came 
in together. I went on playing quietly with my doll. The 
reading of a chapter of Precaution began. This interested 
me greatly; it was Chapter . Suddenly I burst into 

tears, and sobbed aloud over the woes of ... . Father 
and Mother were amazed, I was withdrawn from my tent, 
but they could not imagine what had distressed me. On 
one of his visits to New York, in those days, my Father 
bought a large green port-folio for himself, and a red one 
for my Mother. The red one is now among my papers, in 
a dilapidated condition. 

When Precaution was completed we set out for a visit 
to Bedford, for the especial purpose of reading the M.S. to 
the Jay family. My mother wished the book to be printed, 
my Father had some doubts on the subject, and at last it 
was decided that if his friends the Jays listened with inter- 
est to the reading, the printing should take place. Mrs. 
Banyer's taste and judgment were considered of especial 
importance in deciding a literary question. We made the 
little journey in the gig; Father, Mother, Susie and Pre- 
caution. For my part I greatly enjoyed the visit, playing 
with Anna and Maria Jay. The reading went on in the 
parlour, while we little people were in the nursery. Gov- 
ernor Jay, venerable in appearance as in character was one 
of the audience. With his grand children I used to go up 
and kiss him for good-night, every evening. The audience 
approved, although only one or two knew the secret of the 



2o8 Hegenbss of a J^ortfjem Count? 

authorship; the M.S. was supposed to be written by a friend 
of my Father. There was a Miss McDonald, a friend of 
the Jays staying with them at the time, she declared the 
book quite interesting, but it was not new, "I am sure I 
have read it before," she declared — this the author con- 
sidered as a complimentary remark, as he aimed at close 
imitation of the Opie School of English novels. Bedford 
was at that time a delightful house to visit at, child as I was 
it made this impression on me. My Father and Judge Jay 
were always very intimate, they had been school-boys to- 
gether. Mrs. Banyer was also a warm friend of my parents. 
Her husband Mr. Gouldsborough Banyer had been an 
intimate friend of my Uncle Richard Cooper; Mrs. Ban- 
yer's wedding trip was to Cooperstown, and she always 
spoke with pleasure and interest of her visit to the old 
Hall; the view of the Lake she declared to be lovely from 
the house at that time. 

When Precaution was published some months later, it 
was generally supposed to have been written in England, 
and by a lady. Many persons thought it was written by 
Miss Anne De Lancey, my Mother's sister, who afterwards 
married Mr. John Loudon McAdam, the great engineer of 
roads. This sister my Mother had never seen ! When my 
grand-parents returned to America after the Revolution, 
their eldest child was left in England with her Uncle and 
Aunt, Judge and Mrs. Jones; Judge Jones was the brother 
of my grandmother, he took the name of Jones from 
, he was born a Floyd. Mrs. Jones was my 
grandfather's sister. Miss Anne De Lancey. They were 
both great Tories, and could not be induced to return to 
America, and begged that their little niece might be left 
with them for a time at least. So the child was left with 
them, and my grand-parents sailed with their little boy 
Thomas, and his nurse, "Nanny" — our dear old Nanny of 



HTamesi Jf enimore Cooper 209 

later days. My Grandfather considered himself an Amer- 
ican, not an Englishman, and now that the war was over 
decided to cast in his lot with his native country. They 
lived in New York for a time, at the City Hotel, which 
belonged to my Grandfather. When we were living in the 
Rue St. Dominique at Paris, one of our opposite neighbors 
was the due de Valmy, Gen. Kellerman; he one day asked 
my Father if he had ever known a Madame de Lance, in 
New York, remarking that he had spent some time at the 
City Hotel, and there became acquainted with M. and Mme. 
de Lance, the lady he said was one of the most beautiful 
women he had ever seen. My Aunt Anne grew up a fierce 
Tory, and after the death of her Uncle and Aunt Jones, could 
never be induced to come to America, which was a great 
grief to my grand-parents. She was now credited with 
writing Precaution, a book it was said, clearly written in 
England, and by a woman ! 

Precaution having been quite as successful as he expected 
the writer now planned another book. It was to be 
thoroughly American, the scene laid in West-Chester Co. 
during the Revolution. An anecdote which Governor 
Jay had told him relating to a spy, who performed his 
dangerous services out of pure patriotism, was the founda- 
tion of the new book. 

My Father never knew the name of the Spy; Governor 
Jay felt himself bound to secrecy on that point. But he 
never for a moment believed that Enoch Crosby was the 
man. Various individuals, twenty years later, claimed to 
have been the original Harvey Birch. One man even asserts 
that Mr. Cooper used to visit at his house frequently, for 
the purpose of hearing his adventures and then writing 
them out in the Spy. This is utterly false. From only 
one person did my Father ever receive any information 
connected with the life of the Spy who was the dim original 



210 Hegenbs; of a i^ortfjcm Count? 

of Harvey Birch, and that person was Governor Jay. The 

conversation on the piazza at Bedford relating to the patriot 
spy occurred a long time before my Father dreamed of 
writing a book. 

When he had fully made up his mind to WTite a novel 
entirely American, whose scene should be laid in West 
Chester during the Revolution, he amused himself by going 
among the old farmers of the neighborhood and hearing 
all the gossip of those old times, about the "Neutral 
Ground" on which we were then li\'ing, the ground between 
the English in New York, and American forces northward. 
Frequently he would in\-ite some old farmer to pass the 
evening in the parlour at Angevine, and while drinking cider 
and eating hickory nuts, they would talk over the battle of 
White Plains, and all the skirmishes of the Cow-Bo3'S and 
Skinners. Man)- such evenings do I remember, as I sat on 
a little bench beside my Mother, while Uncle John Hatfield, 
or George Willis, or one of the Cornells related the stir- 
ring adventures of those days of the Revolution. There 
was a shallow cave in the rocky ledge on the road to Mama- 
roneck where a Tory spy had been concealed, and was 
stealthily fed for some time. And on the road to New 
Rochelle there was a grove where a sharp skirmish had 
taken place, it was called the Haunted Wood — Ghosts had 
been seen there ! The cave and the grove were full of tragic 
interest to me, whenever we passed them. 

Every chapter of the Spy was read to my Mother as soon 
as it was written, and the details of the plot were talked 
over with her. From the first months of authorship, to the 
last year of his life, my Father generally read what he wrote 
to my Mother. 

The Spy when it appeared was brilliantly successful. 
Never before had an American book attained anything 
like the same success. 



f antes;'' Jfcnimore Cooper 2 1 1 

During those years at Angevine our education began. 
Our dear Mother was our Governess, and from time to 
time our Father examined us. We were "in school" two 
hours, the three elder ones, Susie, Cally and Charley, sitting 
round our Mother in the parlour, or dining-room, while the 
author and the Spy were occupying the drawing-room. 
Charley could read when she was three years old. There 
was spelling, and writing, and arithmetic, and geography, 
and Mrs. Trimener's Bible Lessons, and the History of 
England. Well do I remember those school hours. Our 
precious Mother was so loving and patient with us. I seem 
to hear her sweet musical voice now as she talked with us. 
She had a remarkably sweet voice in conversation; my 
friend Mrs. Hamilton Fish said to me one day years ago, 
" I always thought that when novelists spoke of the musical 
voices of their heroines in conversation it was pure romance, 
but Mrs. Cooper's voice is melody itself." 

Meanwhile writing was going on. The printing would 
seem to have been a slower business than it is to-day. The 
new book was to give a picture of American life in a new 
settlement, shortly after the Revolution, and the scene was laid 
at Cooperstown, on Lake Otsego. Some of the characters 
were drawn from real life, but the plot was purely fiction. 
Monsieur Le Quoi, Major Hartman, Ben Pump were actual 
colonists on Lake Otsego. Natty Bumppo was entirely 
original, with the exception of his leathern stockings, which 
were worn by a very prosaic old hunter, of the name of 
Shipman, who brought game to the Hall. Mr. Grant was 
not Father Nash. 

The house your Grandfather had rented was one of two 
recently built by the Patroon, on Broadway, just above 
Prince Street. It was then almost ' ' out of town. ' ' Directly 
opposite to us was a modest two story house occupied by 
John Jacob Astor. Niblo's Gardens now occupys the site 



212 Hegenbjf of a J^ortfiern Countp 

of the house in which we lived. Not far above us was the 
very grand "Gothic edifice" St. Thomas Church, considered 
an architectural gem in those days ! Next door to us was a 
Boarding School, one of the best in New York, the principal 
was Mrs. Isabella Holt. Here Cally and I became pupils. 
There were some very nice girls in the school. Miss Eliza- 
beth Fish, Miss Rutgers, Miss Morewood, all older than we 
were, and the Langdons, grand-daughters of Mr. Astor 
who were about our age. Here we sat with our feet in the 
stocks — here I became very intimate with the Kings of 
Egypt, and the great men of Greece. Here if we were dis- 
orderly, or our nails were not properly cleaned we were 
obliged to wear a real pig's-foot tied around our neck ! One 
tragic morning Miss Morewood, the oldest girl, eighteen, 
and a perfect pupil, left her work lying about, and was 
condemned to wear the pig's foot ! Mrs. Holt shed a tear. 
Miss Morewood wept, and I fancy we all cried — but stern 
justice was administered — the pig's foot was worn by the 
model pupil ! These young ladies often were escorted from 

school by their beaux. Miss Rutgers, now Mrs. , and a 

grandmother has been in Cooperstown lately. On one 
occasion I was told to write a composition on the difference 
between the characters of Washington and Franklin — 
your Grandfather no sooner learned the subject allotted to 
me, than he took his hat, walked in to Mrs. Holt's and 
remonstrated on the folly of giving such a task to a child of 
nine. That composition was never written. 

In those days your Grandfather saw frequently many 
officers of the army, and navy. I remember on one occa- 
sion his bringing General Scott home to dinner, and my 
amazement at his great height — as he stood at the window 
he looked out of the upper sash. Your Grandfather was 
also partial to the society of artists, all painters, there was 
no American sculptor in those days. Mr. Dunlap, and 



^Tantesi jFenimore Cooper 213 

Mr. Cole, I remember especially. I remember being taken 
to see a picture of great size, Death on the White Horse, 
painted by Mr. Dunlap. It was about this time that my 
Father planned and founded a Club to which he gave the 
name of the "Lunch." It met every Thursday evening, I 
think at the house of Abigail Jones, a coloured cook famous 
at that day, who kept the Delmonico's of that date. Most 
of the prominent men of ability and character in New York 
belonged to the club, which also through its members, in- 
vited strangers of distinction. Conversation was the ob- 
ject, I do not think there was any card-playing. The 
evening closed with a good supper, one of the members 
being caterer every Thursday, while Abigail Jones carried 
out the programme to perfection in the way of cook- 
ing. Your Grandfather, when caterer, wore a gilt key at 
his buttonhole. He was very social in his tastes and 
habits, and full of spirited conversation, and delighted in 
these lunch meetings. Officers of the Army and Navy, the 
prominent Clergy, Lawyers, Physicians, Merchants, &c., 
&c., belonged to the Club. Bishop Hobart was a frequent 
guest. 

In the following spring we moved to Beach Street, near 
Greenwich Street, to a house belonging to our Mother's 
cousin Henry Floyd Jones of Fort Neck. He and my 
Father were very intimate. Several years before' her mar- 
riage your Grandmother came near losing her life from this 
cousin's carelessness. He was staying at Heathcote Hill and 
taking up a gun — there were always several in the gun-rack 
in the hall — he aimed it at his cousin Susan, threatening to 
shoot her. The gun was loaded — he had believed it unloaded 
— the full charge of shot went into the wall, very near my 
Mother's head, as she stood within a few feet of her cousin. 
Cousin Henry was almost distracted at the thought of the 
risk she had run. It was a rule of my Grandfather's that 



214 Hegentrs! of a i^ottljent Count|> 

every gun carried by the sportsmen, should be discharged 
before it was brought into the house. But on that occasion 
the rule had been carelessly broken. 

One day, as I was sitting near my Mother your Grand- 
father came into the room, with the Cooperstown paper 
in his hand, and without speaking pointed out a passage to 
her, and then left the room. My dear Mother looked sad. 
It was the burning of the house at Fenimore which was re- 
ported in the Freeman's Journal. The stone house was 
very nearly finished, and was valued at $3500. There were 
many incendiary fires in Cooperstown at that time, all 
contrived it was said by one unprincipled man. Your 
Grandfather soon after sold the property at Fenimore. 

One day, at a dinner-party at Mr. Wilkes' the recently 
published novel "by the author of Waverly," the Pirate, 
was the subject of conversation. Several of the party in- 
sisted that the book could not have been written by a lands- 
man. Your Grandfather thought differently, and declared 
that a sailor would have been more accurate, and made 
more of the nautical portions of the book. No one agreed 
with him ; they thought that great skill had been shown by 
merely touching on the sea passages, to have enlarged them 
would have ruined the book : ' ' Impossible to interest the 
reader deeply in a novel where the sea was introduced too 
freely. " Your Grandfather declared that a novel where the 
principal events should pass on the Ocean, with ships and 
sailors for the machinery might be made very interesting. 
There was a general outcry. Mr. Wilkes himself a man of 
literary tastes, and very partial to your Grandfather, shook 
his head decidedly. Nevertheless at that very moment 
the author of the Spy resolved to write a clearly nautical 
novel. On his way home he sketched the outline, and ar- 
rived at his house told your Grandmother of his plan. He 
always talked over his literary plans with her. The Pilot 



Sfameai Jfemmote Cooper 215 

was soon commenced, and when published proved bril- 
liantly successful. 

Our cousin Gouldsborough Cooper, my Uncle Richard's 
eldest son, paid us a visit during the winter. Officers of the 
Army and Navy, Artists, and literary men, were frequently 
at the house. I particularly remember Mr. Bryant, Mr. 
Halleck, and Mr. Perceval the poet, as guests at dinner. 
Also Mr. Cole the artist. Dr. DeKay was also a frequent 
companion of your Grandfather's. Mr. Gilbert Saltonstall 
a college companion of your Grandfather's, whose home 
was in New England staid at the house repeatedly; he 
was a very clever man. On one occasion when Lieutenant 
Commander Shubrick was going away after passing a 
week or two with us, he proposed to my little sister 
Fanny to go with him; she was all ready for the 
elopement, trotted upstairs, put together a few articles of 
her wardrobe, tied them up in a handkerchief, and trotted 
down to the parlour all ready for the journey; Captain 
Shubrick was delighted with her readiness to go with him 
and frequently alluded to it in later years. 

With the spring came another movement to the country. 
This time to Hallett's Cove, to a farm house belonging to 
Col Gibbs, a friend of my Father, whose fine house and 
grounds were close at hand. The place was called Sunswick 
and was opposite Blackwell's Island. It was thoroughly 
country then, with only an occasional farm house in the 
neighborhood. We had a beautiful little cow, "Betty," 
and a farm waggon, with black horses, in which my Father 
drove us about. He frequently took us to a pleasant sandy 
beach, where we children picked up many pretty shells, and 
where we all bathed. There was a wooded point at one 
end of the beach where we loitered in shade, enjoying the 
breeze. A few years later Dr. Muhlenberg built his College 
on that point. Sunswick is now the city of Astoria ! 



2i6 IlegentriB! of a Motti^txn Count? 

Our Father had a little sloop of his own, anchored at the 
wharf, near the house; he called it the Van Tromp, and went 
to New York in it almost daily. Frequently I went with 
him, resting until the turn of the tide, at Mr. Wiley's book- 
store. Was this in Wall St.? I remember distinctly the 
abominable taste of the water, brought to me when I was 
thirsty, from a pump in the street. For many years longer 
New Yorkers drank only very unpleasant water from the 
street pumps. 

In the autumn a grand event occurred. The completing 
of the Erie Canal. There was a great procession in New 
York, which we saw from the windows of 345 Greenwich 
St. Every trade was represented in the line, with appro- 
priate banners, and devices. One carriage in passing our 
house made an especial demonstration ; it contained gentle- 
men, several of whom had on the ends of their uplifted canes 
slices of bread and cheese, members of Father's Club, the 
Lunch, no doubt. 

Our Father after winding up his business in New York, 
went to Washington, in company with the Prince of Canino, 
Charles Bonaparte, the celebrated naturalist with whom he 
was quite intimate. While he was in Washington Mr. Clay 
offered him the position of Minister to Sweden, but he did 
not wish to be tied to a diplomatic life. He preferred a 
Consulship, as he wished to remain identified with the coun- 
try, and thought that position would be a protection to his 
family in case of troubles in Europe. The chief object in 
his going to Washington was to see more of a large deputa- 
tion of Indian chiefs, from the Western tribes, of whom he 
had seen much while they were in New York. He had be- 
come much interested in them, and studied them closely. 
They were chiefly Pawnees and Sioux, and among them was 
Petelasharoo, a very fine specimen of a warrior, a remark- 
able man in every way. The army officers in charge of this 



HTamesi jFenimore Cooper 217 

deputation told him many interesting facts connected with 
those tribes. He had already decided upon a new romance, 
connected with the mounted tribes on the Prairies. 

The ist of June, 1826, the author of the Spy embarked in 
the good ship Hudson, with all his family, including his 
nephew William, the son of his brother William, whom he 
had adopted. We were five weeks at sea, landing at Cowes, 
in the Isle of Wight, on the 4th of July. 

One day as we went home, our dear Mother said, "Who 
do you suppose has been here this morning? Sir Walter 
Scott!" Sir Walter had just arrived in Paris, seeking ma- 
terials for his Life of Napoleon. It was very kind in him to 
call on your Grandfather so soon. They had some interest- 
ing interviews. 

The same morning General Lafayette made a long call on 
my Father. But that was a common occurrence. 

While Sir Walter Scott was in Paris the Princess Galitzin 
gave him a very grand reception. It was a great event of 
the winter, all the fashionable people of Paris were there. 
Sir Walter says in his diary, "the Scotch and American 
lions, took the field together." But of course Sir Walter 
was the lion in chief. All the ladies wore Scotch plaids as 
dresses, scarfs, ribbons, &c., &c. 

The Princess Galitzin was an elderly lady, very clever, a 
very kind friend of your Grandfather and Grandmother and 
a great writer of notes, full of the eloquence du billet, but in 
the most crabbed of handwriting. She had a married 
daughter, and a married son living in Paris at that time. 
Her daughter-in-law, the Princess Marie was a charming 
young lady, sweet and gentle though the daughter of that 
rough old hero Marshall Suwarrow who when needing rest, 
took off his spurs on going to bed. Madame de Zerze, the 
Princess' daughter, gave a brilliant child's party, to which 
we four little sisters were invited. Your father, my dear 



21 8 iCtgcnbs of a J^orttjcm tountp 

Jim, had not yet put on his dancing shoes. Another child's 
parh.'. a ver}- brilliant affair. I remember, given by Madame 
de M\-ien for her grand-daughters Mesdemoiselles de 
Lostange. The whole Hotel was open, and brilliantly 
lighted, and a company of cvurassiers in fuU uniform were 
on guard in the court, and adjoining street, to keep order 
among the coachmen and footmen. That was the most 
brilliant affair of the kind that I ever attended in my 
childish days. 

A naval officer, formerly his commander when he was 
stationed on Lake Ontario, Captain Woolsey was a frequent 
companion of my Father dviring the first winter at Paris. 
They one day undertook to walk aroimd the outer walls 
of Paris, and accomplished the feat successfully. The 
distance was. I think, eighteen miles. 

John Bull was ver}- ci\-il to your Grandfather, so far as 
London Society went. He dined with prominent ^L P.s, 
prominent Peers, and even with Cabinet Ministers. He 
soon became quite intimate with Mr. Rogers the Poet, they 
were much together, and enjoyed each other's society. Mr. 
Rogers was ven.* clever, and witty, and had a charming 
bijou of a house, full of curiosities; in his dining room was a 
mahogany side board made for him by a journey man cab- 
inet maker, later the celebrated sculptor Chantrey! 

In the month of July 182S. just two 3-ears after we en- 
tered Paris, we took leave of our dear Governesses, and school 
friends in the Rue St. Maur. and set out in a roomy family 
carriage, coachman's box in front, rvunble behind, with our 
faces towards Switzerland and Italy. We travelled post, — 
much the pleasantest of all modes of travelling. No doubt 
the palace cars of the present day are very grand and 
luxurious; but grandeur and luxiir>' often leave much real 
pleasantness out of sight. The postillions were ver^^ comi- 
cal in appearance, wearing huge clxmisy boots, that covered 



3^ antes Jfenimorc Cooper 219 

their entire legs, and were stuffed with straw ! Occasionally 
we were treated to ropes in the harness. My father often 
sat on the coachman's box, and I well remember his delight 
at the first sight of Mt. Blanc, like a brilliant white cloud, 
sixty miles away! He stopped the carriage, and in^'ited 
my dear mother to take a seat beside him. He was also in 
a state of tvosey moosey over the mists which clung to the 
Jiu"a moimtains, after we had once entered Switzeriand. 
We were soon settled in a pleasant coimtn' house near 
Berne, la Lorraine, which had been recently occupied by the 
ex-king of Holland. Louis Buonaparte, after the cro\\Ti had 
fallen from his head. — as all Napoleon's crowns were 
doomed to fall. It was a very simple house, with deal 
floors, a stiff little garden in front, with a stiff little foun- 
tain, quite waterless, as its sole ornament. But Oh the 
sublime ^'iew of the Alps from the windows — the whole 
range of the Oberland Alps, so grand beyond description, 
so beautiful beyond description, and constantly varying 
in their grandeur, and their beauty. In the rear of the 
house was a natural terrace where all walked almost every 
evening, parents and children, enio\-ing the noble \-iew. It 
was on that terrace that my father taught Paul to fly his 
first kite, which he had made for him. Farmer Walther 
who had charge of the property had many interesting talks 
with his tenant on subjects political, and military; he was 
ver\- indignant at the robben.' of the Treasury of the Can- 
ton of Berne by one of Napoleon's Marshals. But then 
Napoleon while grand in other ways, was grand also at 
Robben.'. Of course we made acquaintance with the Bears 
of Berne in their fosse. I doubt if many travellers enjoyed 
Switzerland more then your Grandfather did, he was in a 
perpetual state of toosey moosey. over the grand, and the 
beautiful in that Alpine region. He made many excursions 
among the motmtains, alone with guide and Alpenstock, 



220 Hegcnbfi! o{ a i^ortijcnt Countp 

with William, or occasionally in a carriage with my dear 
mother, William and myself. There were ver}" few Amer- 
icans travelling in Switzerland in those years. Only two 
came to Berne during the summer we passed there, Mr. 
Ray, and Mr. Low, of New York. 

In October we took a sentimental leave of la Lorraine, 
and moved southward to Florence. We travelled Vet- 
ttirino in the family caleche, with four fine horses, and a 
fine old cuirassier of Napoleon's wars for postillion, followed 
by a fourgon which carried our baggage, and had a hooded 
seat in front, occupied by William and Paul's nurse. The 
fourgon had only two horses, and a subaltern, Caspar, for a 
postillion. We crossed the Simplon before the snow fell. 
Yoiu" Grandfather was much interested in the great en- 
gineering work of Napoleon, which crossed the Simplon 
with such a fine broad road. 

We were soon in Italy, dear delightful Italy. We paid 
our homage to the beautiful Cathedral at Milan, paid our 
respects to San Carlo Borromeo, and the Lago Maggiore, 
halted for a daj' or two at Bologna, crossed the Appenines, 
and were soon at the gates of Florence. Your Grandfather 
fell in love with Italy at first sight. And it was a love which 
lasted through his lifetime. For Switzerland he had a 
great admiration ; for Italy he had a warm affection, which 
neither beggars, nor bandits could chill. The very atmos- 
phere of Italy was a delight to him. 

We were soon pro\4ded with a home of our own in 
Florence. 



I am adding to these recollections the following 
verses, to preser^-e them and what is known of their 
history. Years ago I found the unsigned and undated 



3f antes; Jfenimore Cooper 221 

manuscript among my grandfather's papers; it was in 
his handwriting but. bore nothing to identify the writer, 
or the name of the friend to whom it is addressed. We 
concluded that it was written by him and thought 
that possibly it was on the death of his Secretary 
William Cooper, who died in Paris. 

In the summer of 1920 my sisters, who for many 
years have spent several months at Murray Bay, 
Canada, were told that, written on a piece of paper in 
a book in the library of the Manor house, was a copy 
of these verses, dated and signed as below, but with 
nothing to indicate the name of the person to whom 
they are addressed. 

Fenimore Cooper visited Leghorn at about the time 
of the date. The only suggestion that I can make as to 
the "messmate" is that it may have been Captain 
Woolsey who is mentioned in the foregoing notes as 
having been in Paris in 1826 or 1827. 

LEGHORN— 5TH. M ARCH— 1 829 

Sleep on in peace within thy foreign grave, 
Companion of my young and laughing hour — 
Thought bears me hence to wild Ontario's wave — 
To other scenes, to time when hope had power. 

Then life to us was like yon glittering main 
Viewed in the calm, beneath its sunny skies. 
Then impulse bound the mind in pleasure's chain, 
And colors rose in gold before the eyes. 



222 Xegenbtf of a i^orttietn Count? 

We based our rocks of fame on moving seas, 
To us their trackless paths were beaten ways — 
The spirit stirring gale, the milder breeze, 
The battle's carnage teemed with laurel'd praize — 

But twice ten wiser years have drawn a ray 

Of austere truth athwart this treacherous sphere, 

To me life stands exposed, yet I obey 

Its luring smile — Thou — sleepest ever here — 

J. Fenimore Cooper 

visited the grave of his old messmate. 
Dec^" 6th 1828 

Copied Leghorn 
March 5th. 1829. 



OTSEGOiHALL 

The following description of Otsego Hall and its 
predecessor, called the Manor House, was begun by 
J. Fenimore Cooper in a blank book, with the intention 
of writing a complete history of the Hall. This idea 
he abandoned and the leaves on which the following 
was written were cut out. I found them among other 
old papers and print them with all the blanks unfilled. 

CONSTRUCTION &c. 

At the original settlement of Cooperstown, The pro- 
prietor William Cooper, laid out a plot of ground for his own 
residence in the centre of the village. This plot faced on 
Fair Street, and extended half way from Second to Third 
Street. It was enclosed with a picket fence, and contained 
about an acre and a half of land. In 1788, Judge Cooper 
erected a wooden building, nearly on a line with Second 
Street, and directly in front of Fair Street or nearly on the 
line of the present (1840) wall. This house was of two 
stories, and had a wing at each end. A few years later, an 
addition was annexed to the rear. A good representation 
of it is to be seen in the original map, where the house is 
called Manor House. It was a roughly built house, but 
good for the country, and the times. This house was 
temporarily inhabited by Judge Cooper, in 1789, but his 

223 



224 ILcQcnhi of a iCtortfjcin Countp 

family did not remove to it, until Oct. 1790. In this house, 
in 179 was born Henry Frcy Cooper the younf:;cst child 
of William Cooper and Elizabeth Fenimore, who died at 
Burlinj^ton, New Jersey, when only nine months old. At 
this time, The j^arden was near the house, a little to the 
east of it. The asparagus bed, being near the present 
Bank. The barns and stables were on the north side of 
Second Street, in the rear of the stone store built by N. 
Worlhington. 

Lombardy poplars were introduced into the country by 
Judge Cooper, about the year 1796 who caused several 
rows of them to be set out in his grounds, to form avenues 
to the new building. A few of the apple trees were found 
in the lot, having been planted by the Indians or by Col. 
Croghan, The old deputy superintendent of Indian affairs, 
but most of them were set out and grafted about the year 
1 795. An Englishman of the name of Zeb did 

the grafting. 

M. de Tallyrand visited Cooperstown, in the year 1795, 
and passed several days with Judge Cooper, in the old 
house. 

In 1796 Judge Cooper made his contracts for the con- 
struction of the Ilall. The stone for the foundation was 
obtained from the fields, on the farm of Luce, 

no quarries having then been opened in the mountains. 
The bricks were made at the outlet, the clay having been 
brought from The Housman Lot, on the west side of the 
Lake. The lime was also made at the outlet. When the 
Hall was commenced. Judge Cooper extended the grounds 
Through to Third Street, and he opened a lane from West 
Street, to communicate with new barns &c. That he had 
built on a lot that communicated with the grounds, west 
and north of the house. The foundation of the Hall was 
laid in the summer of 1797, and the walls of the house were 



(Dtgego ^aii 225 

run up, and the building enclosed in that of 1798. The 
roof was raised, 1798. The interior was finished 

in the course of the following spring. The family moved 
into the house in June 1799. 

According to the original distribution, the great hall was 
used as a room, and was furnished in a very general way. 
A piano stood between the window and door on the north- 
east corner, a side board between the two next doors, on 
the same side, a dining table between the two next, and a 
tea-table, between the last door and the window. In the 
southwest corner stood an old fashioned clock, and near it, 
another sewing table. A long settee covered with chintz 
stood between the two doors on that side, and a large hand 
organ between the most northern of the doors and the 
window. There were two small chandeliers in the hall, and 
it was warmed by a large tin plate stove that stood in the 
centre. There were also gilt branches on the door casings, 
and busts in the pediments. The window seats were 
generally filled with books. 

The northwest room was intended for a dining room, and 
there is now a trap door in it, that was made for passing up 
dishes from below, but the hall proving to be so great a 
favorite, this room, as commanding a view of the lake, was 
used as a drawing room. It was very seldom opened, how- 
ever, never, indeed, unless at some family festival. This 
room is very little altered from what it was in 1798, The 
paper alone having been renewed and a new ceiling made. 
The original paper was a delicate vine, with a straw colored 
back ground. 

The southwest room was called the dining room, but it may 
be questioned if a table was ever set in it, during the lives of 
Judge Cooper and his wife. The paper was figured, with a 
red background, and exceedingly ugly. In other respects, 
this room is much as it used to be. Though it was not oaked. 

IS 



226 HtQtntisi of a J^ortfjem Count|> 

The northeast room was used by Mrs. William Cooper, 
as a bed-room; the bed standing in the south-west corner. 
The paint was blue, and the paper sombre. In that day, 
it was the custom to paint The wood-work different colours. 

The stairs were straight, steep, and mean. They were 
very difficult of ascent and even dangerous; the carpenters 
appearing to have no idea of a landing. The paper of 
the little passage was like that of the hall. 

The house was divided into six large rooms on the second 
floor. The garret stairs were directly over those below, 
and there were two windows in the east end of the building 
one to light the little passage, and the other to light the 
corridors, up stairs, which reached to the doors of the two 
western chambers. As these two chambers were much the 
largest in the house, They were kept for company. That 
in the centre, on the north side, was the young men's room, 
and occupied by the two oldest sons, when at home; that 
opposite was a storeroom, with a bed for any familiar ac- 
quaintance. Each of these rooms had three windows. 
The northeast room was occupied by the two daughters, 
Hannah and Ann, and the room opposite by the boys, 
William and James. 

As soon as the old house was vacant, it was removed 
down the street, far enough to permit a view of the Lake, 
and was subsequently converted into stores. In the end, it 
was consumed by fire. 

The southeast door in the great hall communicated with 
the pantry, which was large, and contained The second 
window on that side of the building. A door opened from 
t he little passage, into a room behind the pantry. That was 
called the library. This room had two windows; one on 
the east, and one on the south, and the book cases stood in a 
recess, between the end of the pantry and the partition 
beyond. 



0tsitQo l^all 227 

The kitchen garden was made, about the year 1800, at 
the south-east corner of the lot, and a small vine yard was 
made in the hollow next to the street. Fences ran from the 
two southern corners of the house to Third Street, and the 
enclosure was converted into a flower garden. The re- 
mainder of the grounds were either in fruit, or laid out in 
squares divided by straight, formal gravel walks. 

The house was originally painted red and lined, so as to 
show the bricks. The roof was painted red, and had a light 
wooden railing. About the year 1800, a low stone addition, 
of the height of the foundation, was run out towards the 
east, to the offices &c. and as a laundry. In the year 1803, 
another of the same height and material was put on the 
west end, and was used as an office. 

The summer of 1799, the following winter, and the sum- 
mer of 1800 were all exceedingly gay, with the exception 
that Judge Cooper was absent, in Philadelphia, where 
Congress then sat. 

It ought to have been said that in front of the house was 
a stone stoop, with a slight pediment supported by four 
slender colimins, and in the rear a low wooden one with 
seats. 

On the morning of the loth September, Richard Feni- 
more Cooper, the eldest son of Judge Cooper accompanied 
by his eldest sister, Hannah, left the Hall, on horseback to 
cross the hills on a visit to the Morrises at the Butternuts. 
Miss Cooper was mounted on a spirited imported English 
blooded mare, and when about a mile from the end of her 
journey, the mare suddenly jumped aside at a dog, threw 
its rider, and killed Miss Cooper, on the spot. This young 
lady was just two and twenty, and was esteemed and loved 
by all who knew her. Few young women of her age, ever 
died more lamented. Her body was conveyed to the resi- 
dence of General Morris, and that night Mr. Richard 



228 Hegentijf of a J^ortfjem Countp 

Morris brought the sad intelligence to the Hall. On the 
night of the nth the body arrived, and was placed in its 
coffin, on the Fenimore Table as it is called, in the dining- 
room (now the library, 1840) near the wall, and on the right 
hand, on entering the room. On the 12th the body was 
removed into the Hall, and placed between the two southern 
doors on the east side, leaving room for a row of chairs next 
the wall. The Rev. Mr. Nash preached a sermon, standing 
near the pantry door, and the hall was filled with people. 
Judge Cooper, Richard Fenimore, Samuel, and James Feni- 
more, were all the members of the family present, Isaac 
being in Philadelphia, and William at Princeton College. 
Mrs. Cooper and her daughter Ann, were in the room of 
the former. The procession left the house by the front 
door, and the body was interred in the present family bury- 
ing ground. A slab was placed over The grave, made of 
the common stone of the country (quarries had then been 
opened) and The inscription on it was written, by Judge 
Cooper. This slab does not contain The name of the de- 
ceased, or any date whatever. The death of Miss H. 
Cooper was The first that had occurred in the family at 
Cooperstown. Judge Cooper, however, had lost several 
children previously to removing to Cooperstown, Their 
names were Amos, Abraham, Elizabeth, two that were 
never named, and Henry Frey. Henry Frey was the only 
child of Judge Cooper's who was born in Cooperstown, and 
he died and was buried at Burlington, New Jersey. Until 
the death of Miss Cooper, a sort of superstition prevailed 
in the family, That all were to die and be buried at 
Burhngton. 

On the of , Richard Fenimore Cooper was 

married to Ann Low Carey. Richard Fenimore was the 
eldest child of William Cooper and Elizabeth Fenimore and 
Ann Low was the second daughter of Richard Carey of 



0i&tQO llaH 229 

Springfield, Otsego County and Ann Low, his wife, of New 
York, The bride and bridegroom reached the Hall, on the 
day of the wedding, and they took possession of the south- 
western room. Judge Cooper, at this time, was absent in 
Washington, where Congress then sat. The winter of 
1880-1 was less gay, at the Hall, Than the preceding, on 
account of the death of Miss Cooper, but several young 
ladies passed a portion of it there. Among them were Miss 
Mary Ann Morris and Miss Eliza Carey. 

This year, and the two or three that succeeded. The 
vineyard produced very good grapes but cold winters killed 
the vines about the year 1804. The plums of the garden 
were very celebrated from 1796 to 1808 &c. &c. 

In the course of The year 1801, Richard Fenimore Cooper 
took possession of his own home at Apple Hill, being the 
first of the family who quitted The paternal residence. At 
this time, Isaac Cooper was in Philadelphia, in the counting- 
house of & Bancker, William at Princeton College; 
James at school wdth Rev. Tho. Ellison, rector of St. 
Peter's Albany; Samuel and Ann at home. The latter, how- 
ever, passed he winter of 180 1-2 in Philadelphia. 

Isaac Cooper was married to Mary Ann Morris 25th 
Dec. 1804, and, on reaching the Hall, a few days after The 
marriage, They occupied The . In 1805, They 

removed to The house at the west corner of Second and 
fair streets, since destroyed by fire. On the occasion of 
this wedding. The drawing room was opened, for company, 
for the second time. The death of Miss Cooper having 
prevented This from occurring except on great occasions. 

Miss Ann Cooper, The only surviving daughter of Judge 
Cooper, was married on the of May 1803 to George 

Pomeroy, and continued to reside in the Hall, until the close 
of the following year, when they removed to their own 
house, comer of Second and Water Street. This marriage 



230 Hegentrj; of a i^ortfiem Count? 

took place in The hall, near the spot where the dining table 
is usually set, The Rev. Isaac Lewis officiating. This is 
the first marriage That ever occurred in the house. The 
young couple occupied The room now called New Jersey. 
In this room, on the of eve was born 

William Cooper Pomeroy, the first child ever born in the 
building. He died at his father's house ,1807. 

After the removal of Isaac Cooper to the house in Second 
Street, the family in the Hall usually consisted of only 
Judge Cooper, his wife, and their fourth son Samuel; Wil- 
liam residing in New York and James being either at 
college, or at sea. At this time. The domestics, indoors 
were reduced to The Governor, as he was called, a hired 
black man; Sarah the cook; and Betty, the chambermaid. 

1808 William Cooper was married to Eliza Clason, at 
the county house of the lady's father, on the East River, 
and in the course of the season They paid their first visit to 
Cooperstown. They also occupied New Jersey, which had 
now got to be used as a room for married members of the 
family. 

December 1809, Judge Cooper died, at Lewis' tavern, 
Albany. His body was brought to the Hall and was placed 
in The . The funeral took place on The 

This was the second funeral that took place from the house, 
neither individual having died in it. 

Judge Cooper, in his will, left the Hall to his widow for 
her life, and, after her death, to each of his five sons in 
succession, or to that one who should choose to accept it, 
commencing with the eldest, at the sum of $15,000. At 
this time the grounds were not much more than half as 
large as they are now (1840) for, though The adjoining lots 
belonged to the estate of Judge Cooper, They were not 
supposed to be included in the devise. As the valuation 
was supposed to be high, neither of the sons seemed disposed 



0iitg,o JIall 231 

to accept of the property, when by a rigid construction of 
the will it must have descended to James, The younger. 

From the time of Judge Cooper's death, The house was 
occupied only by Mrs. Cooper and her son Samuel, until 
the latter married, on the of i8i , Eliza 

Bartlett, of Cooperstown. Mr. Samuel Cooper and his 
wife occupied the Library, which was converted into a bed 
room for their convenience. The office was now deserted, 
all the papers of the family, having been removed to an 
office constructed by Mr. Isaac Cooper, for that purpose. 

Some of the furniture mentioned is now at Fynmere. 
The sideboard, the "hand organ," and the Fenimore 
Table are all in the dining-room. Many of the books 
which belonged to William Cooper and his family and 
some of the silverware are also at Fynmere. 

Some years ago there was a curious story about 
Otsego Hall started by one of the Smiths of Phila- 
delphia, one of whose number, R. R. Smith, was a 
friend of Judge Cooper's, lived at Cooperstown for a 
time, and kept the settlement shop. The Smiths owned 
some of the Otego Patent about twenty miles west of 
Cooperstown on the Otego Creek. There, about 1774, 
one of them built a small frame building and dubbed it 
"Smith's Hall." It is still standin^g about half a mile 
north of Laurens to the east of the main road on the 
west side of the Otego Creek. It is known locally as 
"Smith's Hall." 

Every family has its historian — more or less inac- 



232 ILtQtntisi of a i^ortfjent Countp 

curate. When the Smith family history was written, 
the author looked about for "Smith's Hall" — evidently 
confusing Otego and Otsego, and pleased by the appear- 
ance of Otsego Hall, he claimed it and published one of 
the well-known prints of it in his history — where it still ap- 
pears, with the explanation that it was built by one of 
the Smiths and known as Smith's Hall until Judge 
Cooper bought and remodelled it, and changed the 
name to "Otsego Hall." Such is history! No Smith 
of that family owned any land in the Cooper Patent, 
and Judge Cooper, of course, built the Hall for himself 
on his own land. 

When Otsego Hall became the property of James 
Fenimore Cooper, he altered it very materially. The 
entrance hall was just about twenty-five by fifty feet, 
and the building itself about seventy-five feet wide by 
fifty odd deep. The model in the museum at Coopers- 
town while fairly accurate is in many details wrong. 



A GUIDE IN THE WILDERNESS 

I AM including in this volume of sketches an intro- 
duction written by me in 1897 for a second edition of a 
volume of letters by Judge Cooper, published in 1807, 
under the title of A Guide in the Wilderness, and long 
since out of print. I am doing this, although it in- 
volves a certain amount of repetition, as the introduc- 
tion contains many facts and anecdotes not appearing 
in the other articles in this book. 

INTRODUCTION 

William Cooper, the writer of the letters composing 
the Guide in the Wilderness, was born December 2d, 
1754, in Byberry Township, then in Philadelphia 
County, Pennsylvania. He married December 12, 
1775. at Burlington, New Jersey, Elizabeth Fenimore, 
daughter of Richard Fenimore, a descendant of early 
English settlers in New Jersey. He became interested 
in large tracts of land in New York and elsewhere 
shortly after the Revolution, and from that time, until 
his death in 1809, his principal occupation seems to have 

233 



234 Hegentrji of a Moxtt^tm Count? 

been settling his own lands and those in which he had a 
joint interest with others. 

The time was one of great activity in land settlement 
and speculation. Few, if any, new settlements had 
been undertaken during the war and this period of 
stagnation was naturally followed by large speculative 
purchases of wild lands by men with money to invest. 
The rapidity with which land could be disposed of to 
persons seeking homes is shown by the settlement of 
the tract of which the village of Cooperstown forms a 
part. Judge Cooper after examining this land in 1785 
offered forty thousand acres for sale to settlers, and he 
states, that in sixteen days it was all taken up by the 
poorer class of people, who bought principally small 
holdings. Here, at the foot of Otsego Lake, in 1787, he 
laid out a village which w^as given the name of Coopers- 
Town. He gradually acquired other large tracts of 
land in the neighborhood, and had, practically, the 
management of the settlement of the greater part of 
what is now Otsego County, either as owner or by agree- 
ment with the owners, as well as of lands in other parts 
of the State which he owned or controlled. 

Speculation in American lands was not confined to 
residents of this country. Large tracts were bought 
by foreigners. The voluminous correspondence which 
Judge Cooper has left shows that Necker, and after- 
wards Madame de Stael, were owners of lands in our 



^ #uitre in tije mnhtmt^a 235 

northern counties. Under the stimulus of this specu- 
lation land in some localities brought prices which it is 
doubtful if it has realized since. Judge Cooper paid 
ten dollars an acre for land in what is now known as 
the North Woods, which is hardly worth a quarter of 
that price to-day. Generally, however, his judgment 
was remarkably good. This is shown by his designa- 
tion in one of the following letters of the locations which 
were likely, in his opinion, to become the sites of im- 
portant towns ; among them he mentions the mouth of 
the Buffalo creek — now Buffalo; the straits of Niagara 
below the falls — now Lewiston, and the first falls of the 
Genesee — now Rochester. 

When the Guide in the Wilderness was written, the 
only means of transportation were waterways and 
roads; and the value of lands, present and future, rested 
largely on their location with reference to rivers and 
lakes, to roads or the probable line of great highways. 
Already a canal was under discussion and the sugges- 
tions on this subject of Judge Cooper are interesting in 
view of the subsequent building of the Erie Canal. 
One element in the speculative value of land, which in- 
vestors apparently overlooked, was the effect which the 
clearing of the forests would have on the streams. 
Large tracts of land, then deemed valuable because 
they were located on the banks of some stream, navi- 
gable for scows and small boats, soon lost the advan- 



236 litQcntm of a J^ortftcnt Countj> 

tage of such a location by the shrinking of the streams, 
due to the cutting away of the woods. 

Great profits were anticipated from the manufac- 
ture of maple sugar, and among Cooper's papers is a 
copy of a letter to the President of the United States 
(George Washington) which accompanied a present 
of "sugar and spirits produced from the maple tree" 
sent by Arthur Noble (after whom the patents of 
Arthurboro and Nobleboro are named) and Judge 
Cooper. 

The views of the author of the Guide on the wisdom 
of selling in fee, instead of leasing in fee, have been 
proved sound, by the collapse of the attempt to create 
in this State a system of land proprietorship based on 
perpetual leases binding the tenants to the payment of 
perpetual rent. This course was followed on many of 
the great estates in New York and resulted in endless 
litigation and the "anti-rent war." 

Life, in what was then the frontier settlement of 
Cooperstown, was not without its interests other than 
those of mere business. The village grew and the 
settlers in the surrounding country prospered. In 
1790 Judge Cooper brought his family from Burlington. 
It consisted of fifteen persons, including servants. In 
the same year, as appears from a census taken then 
the village proper contained eight families with a total 
of thirty-three persons and two slaves; seven houses 



^ #uitie in if^t Miltitmtisi 237 

and three barns. This "census" is endorsed by the 
maker as follows: "I may not be perfectly correct, but 
the difference is not material if any." In 1802 the 
population had increased to 342 whites and 7 blacks, 
and in 18 16 to 826 persons. Churches, an "academy, " 
and a public library had been started. A newspaper 
was published in 1795, and at least one has been pub- 
lished in the village continuously since. Cooperstown 
at the time of the writing of the Guide in the Wilderness 
stood in point of trade and population next to Utica. 
The former now has about 2900 inhabitants and the 
latter about 45,000. 

Jacob Morris, writing in January, 1796, says: 

The brilliancy exhibited at Cooperstown last Tuesday — 
the Masonic festival — was the admiration and astonishment 
of all beholders. Upwards of eighty people sat down to one 
table — some very excellent toasts were drank and the great- 
est decency and decorum was observed. ... In the 
evening we had a splendid ball, sixty couple, thirty in a 
set, both sets on the floor at the same time, pleasant manners 
and good dancing. 

This was not the first ball given at Cooperstown. 
There is the record of the trial, in 1791, of a Doctor 

P , who was charged with having mixed an emetic 

with the beverage drunk at a ball given at the "Red 
Lion." He was tried, convicted of the offense, put in 
the stocks, and then banished from the village. Ban- 



238 iLegentis; of a Moxti)tm Countp 

ishment was not an unusual, though probably an 
unlawful, form of punishment at the time. 

The place seems to have been attractive to foreigners, 
seeking a permanent or temporary home in this country, 
as many of them found their way to it. For some 
years an ex-governor of one of the French islands kept 
a shop in the village. Talleyrand visited Judge Cooper, 
and wrote verses to one of his daughters, and many of 
the prominent federalists of the State stayed for longer 
or shorter periods with him. In 1796 he began a large 
brick house for his own occupation calling it Otsego 
Hall. It took the place of an older one known as the 
Mansion. Here open house was kept and a liberal 
hospitality dispensed. Traveling was done by short 
stages, over poor roads, from the home of one friend or 
acquaintance to that of another, and doubtless the 
Mansion, and later the Hall, received their share of 
such patronage. Traditions still live of the good times 
enjoyed, and the receipted bills for the tuns of madeira 
consumed have long survived the giver and partakers of 
the feasts. That dinners were not unusual is apparent 
from the following provision in the lease of Judge 
Cooper's house, made in 1798, when he went to Philadel- 
phia for the winter but expected to board with the lessee 
at times : ' ' When he makes a dinner for his friends, then 
the said William shall pay three shillings per man to the 
said Samuel and on all occasions find his own liquors." 



^ (Huitie in ttje Wilhtvntsisi 239 

The hospitality, if tradition speaks truly, was some- 
times enforced with amiable roughness. The story is 
still told of how Judge Cooper, while driving a sleigh 
full of guests, stopped at the house of a friend, an ex- 
officer of the" French army, who was living on the shores 
of Otsego Lake, and asked him to join the party and 
dine at the Hall. He firmly declined the invitation, 
but his would-be entertainers were not to be discour- 
aged and carried him forcibly to the dinner. Arrived 
at the Hall they found, to their delight, that their cap- 
tive, suffering from the delays and inconveniences of 
frontier housekeeping, was without a shirt. Judge 
Cooper, however, supplied him with one, and, as 
the involuntary guest was frequently heard to say 
afterwards, was so hospitable as to give him a ruffled 
one. 

The head of a settlement was subject to other de- 
mands than those on his wardrobe. One of the French 
settlers borrowed of Judge Cooper some fifty dollars. 
As time went on the latter noticed that his debtor's 
visits to the Hall became less and less frequent until 
they finally ceased. Meeting the man one day, he 
remonstrated with him, telling him that so small a 
matter should not cause him annoyance and urging him 
not to allow it to interfere with his visits to the Hall. 
The Frenchman, however, felt that the fifty dollars 
weighed heavily on his honor, and that he could not 



240 iCegentiji of a Moxtf^tm Count? 

partake of the Judge's hospitality until the debt was 
paid. Not long afterwards Judge Cooper saw his 
debtor approaching him with every manifestation of 
joy, waving his hat and shouting: "Good news, Judge 
Cooper, Good news — My mother is dead! My 
mother is dead! I pay you the fifty dollars." 

Judge Cooper seems to have prided himself on his 
physical strength and agility. He offered a lot (prob- 
ably 150 acres of land) as a reward to any man on the 
settlement who could throw him. The challenge was 
accepted, the Judge finally thrown by one of the settlers, 
and the lot conveyed to his conqueror. 

William Cooper was appointed First Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas of Otsego County in 1791 and 
held this office until October, 1800. His appointment, 
so the commission reads, was for "such time as he shall 
well behave himself therein or until he shall attain the 
age of sixty years." His retirement from office was 
not due to either limitation. The commission is signed 
by George Clinton, recited to be "Governor of our said 
State, General and Commander-in-Chief of all the 
militia and Admiral of the navy of the same." He was 
twice elected to Congress, in 1795 and in 1799, and once 
lost his election. 

The interest in politics during the earlier years of the 
United States far exceeded that of to-day, and entered 
largely into the life of all the inhabitants. Nearly 



jK (duitie ill tf)e Miliittntsm 241 

every elector seems to have been a politician. The 
letters of the time are full of politics and party ani- 
mosity. Judge Cooper, a Federalist, was a prominent 
member of his party and devoted much of his time to 
its cause. He was on intimate terms with its leaders, 
and in constant correspondence with many of them. 

The population in the country was scanty, and as the 
franchise was restricted by a property qualification, 
the voters were comparatively few; but the enthusi- 
asm was unlimited. The polls could be kept open five 
days, so as to accommodate all wanting to vote, and as 
there was no secret ballot the excitement was constant 
and intense. Jacob Morris, writing of an election in 
Unadilla (Otsego County) at which 141 votes were cast, 
and the federalist majority was five, after dwelling on 
the completeness of the victory, says : ' ' Our success was 
wholly ascribable to the federalist spirit of the Butter- 
nuts; the hardy sons of this new settlement, rushed 
over the Otego hills, an irresistible phalanx" — and then 
referring to his political opponents, adds : 

That since in political dust they are laid 

They're all dead and d d and no more can be said. 

There are frequent complaints in the letters of fraud 
and of influence and prominence of foreigners, es- 
pecially the Irish. Fear for the future of the country 

and the stability of property is expressed in almost the 
16 



I 



242 Hegenbjl of a Movi^tvn Countp 

terms used to-day. The federalists are "friends of 
order" and their opponents "anti-Christians," "ene- 
mies of the country," etc. One prominent resident of 
Otsego county and of Philadelphia, writes: "We are 
busy about electing a senator in the State legislature. 

The contest is between B. R. M , a gentleman, and 

consequently a federalist, and a dirty stinking anti- 
federal Jew tavern-keeper called I. I . But, Judge, 

the friends to order here don't understand the business, 
they are uniformly beaten, we used to order these things 
better at Cooper stown." 

Philip Schuyler, writing to Judge Cooper of the 
election of 1791, says: 

I believe fasting and prayer to be good, but if you had 
only fasted and prayed I am sure we should not have had 
seven hundred votes from your country — report says that 
you was very civil to the young and handsome of the sex, 
that you flattered the old and ugly, and even embraced the 
toothless and decrepid, in order to obtain votes. When 
will you write a treatise on electioneering ? Whenever you 
do, afford only a few copies to your friends. 

Campaigns were not, however, always conducted on 
such peaceful and pleasant lines, as appears from the 
following affidavits, a number of printed copies of 
which are among Judge Cooper's papers, endorsed in 
his handwriting, "Oath how I whipped Cochran." 
They were apparently used as campaign documents. 



^ ifluitre in tfje Milbttnt^H 243 

The James Cochran referred to was a poHtical opponent, 
and defeated Cooper for Congress at an earUer date. 

Jessie Hyde, of the town of Warran, being duly sworn, 
saith, that on the sixteenth day of October in the year 1799, 
he this deponent, did see James Cochran make an assault 
upon William Cooper in the public highway. That the 
said William Cooper defended himself, and in the struggle 
Mr. Cochran, in a submissive manner, requested of Judge 
Cooper to let him go. 

Jessie Hyde. 
Sworn this sixteenth day of 

October, 1799, before me, 

Richard Edwards, Master in Chancery. 

Otsego County, ss. 

Personally appeared Stephen Ingalls, one of the con- 
stables of the town of Otsego, and being duly sworn, deposeth 
and saith, that he was present at the close of a bruising 
match between James Cochran, Esq., and William Cooper, 
Esq., on or about the sixteenth of October last, when the 
said James Cochran confessed to the said William Cooper 
these words: "I acknowledge you are too much of a buffer 
for me," at which time it was understood, as this deponent 
conceives, that Cochran was confessedly beaten. 

Stephen Ingals. 
Sworn before me this sixth 

day of November, 1799. 

Joshua Dewey, Justice of the Peace. 

In the election of 1792 the State canvassers, acting 
upon the advice of Aaron Burr, rejected, for alleged 



244 Hegentrsf of a i^tortfjem Count? 

irregularity in the manner of their return, certain votes 
and among them those of Otsego Coimty, and by so 
doing changed the result of the election, defeated Jay, 
and declared Clinton elected Governor. This action 
caused great indignation among the federalists and 
seems to have been unjustified. As a means of divert- 
ing attention from it, a petition, charging Judge Cooper 
with having unduly influenced the voters in his county, 
was presented to the State legislature. An investiga- 
tion was had, and the petition finally dismissed as 
frivolous and vexatious. Judging from the personal 
letters on the subject written Cooper at the time, the 
charges were groundless. 

Judge Cooper died at Albany, December 22, 1809, 
as the result of a blow on the head, struck from behind, 
by an opponent as they were leaving a political meeting. 

This Guide in the Wilderness was not published until 
after his death, and it gives an excellent idea of the man. 
The letters composing it show Judge Cooper to have 
been a close observer of nature, a man who saw and 
understood the value of the natural phenomena among 
which he lived, and a student of character. That he 
was of a kindly disposition the letters which exist among 
his papers show. He made some bitter enemies, as was 
inevitable with a man leading so active a life and taking 
so great an interest in politics as he did, but he had 
many devoted friends. 



^ ^niht in tfje Milhtmtifi 245 

William Sampson, to whom the letters composing 
The Guide in the Wilderness were written, was a well- 
known lawyer. He was bom in Londonderry in 1764 
and died in New York in 1836. He was the son of a 
Presbyterian minister, and an officer of the Irish Vol- 
unteers. He was counsel at Dublin for members of 
the society of United Irishmen. After the failure of 
the revolution in 1798, he fled from Ireland but was 
brought back to Dublin and eventually allowed his 
freedom upon the condition of his living in Portugal, 
where he was afterwards imprisoned at the instance of 
the English government, but was finally set at liberty 
and came to this country. He wrote a number of 
books, among them his own memoirs, of which three 
editions were published. 

The following extract from a letter of his to Judge 
Cooper explains the reason for the publication of the 
Guide in Dublin and fixes the date of the letters as prior 
to 1807. 

Sir: — Since you left us I have been too much occupied 
with moving, attendance on the courts, and other matters 
to have made much progress respecting our little work. I 
have however employed my spare moments toward mak- 
ing a fair transcript of your letters. The booksellers here 
give little encouragement, or to say better, very great dis- 
couragement to any literary object, and unless they have 
it for nothing to themselves they seem to make it a point to 
keep it down. But there is a ship about to sail shortly for 



246 Xegenbsi of a iSottJjent Countj> 

Belfast or Londonderry, in both of which quarters I have 
brothers, men of liberal minds and passionate for useful 
knowledge. I have no doubt your letters will interest them 
highly, and the public no less. And although neither your 
object in writing those letters nor mine in publishing them 
was to get money, yet I should think that going to the ex- 
pense of printing a work so likely to be productive to a 
publisher would be useless. I wish to have your consent 
before I take any further step, and shall be glad to hear how 
your health has been and what there is new in your woods 
... I am sir. 

Your friend and humble servant, 

William Sampson. 
New York, 12th of May, 1807. 

In this republication, the original text has been 
strictly followed, and there appear all of the mistakes 
in spelling and grammatical errors existing in the pam- 
phlet as first published — for some of them the author 
probably is responsible, for others the printer. 

Albany, March, 1897. 



jFamilp iSotesi 

WILLIAM COOPER 

William Cooper was bom in 1755 in Byberry 
township, a part of old Philadelphia County, Penn- 
sylvania. 

His father was James Cooper; the family were all 
Quakers; the first of them to come to America was 
James Cooper, of Stratford on Avon, where there was a 
large family of Coopers living in and about Stratford. 
He came to Trenton, N. J., in 1680 and bought a 
"plantation" near there; he sold this a few years later 
and moved to Byberry Township where he bought an- 
other; he owned considerable land in and about Phila- 
delphia including a piece on Arch Street, four hundred 
and fifty-five feet front, but only fifty-one feet deep. 
He died December 4, 1732, leaving a good deal of real 
estate, and a will drawn in his own handwriting but 
unsigned. He was bom in 1 661 . It is said that he had 
a shop of some kind on the Arch Street property, at the 
comer of Second Street ; he is sometimes described as a 
merchant. 

His son William, who died in 1736, had a plantation 

247 



248 ICegenbs; of a i^ortfjem Count? 

of one hundred and sixty acres in Byberry, upon which 
apparently he Hved, in addition to land in Philadelphia. 

William's son, James, was bom in Byberry in 1729; 
he owned a plantation at Buckingham, Bucks Co., 
but lived in Byberry, where Judge William Cooper was 
bom December 2, 1755, in his father's residence, near 
where the Somerton Post Ofhce stood in 1885. 

The wife of the first James, Hester or Esther, was the 
progenitrix of the family saints ; she seems to have been 
a preacher of prominence and as such much admired; 
vshe traveled all over the country addressing meetings 
and there is a long account of her in The Friend (vol. 
xxviii, p. 51) and of the shortcomings of her husband, 
James — and of his repentance. It is an amusing illus- 
tration of the religious atmosphere and activity then 
prevailing in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

ESTHER COOPER 

Of this Friend we know little, except that she was in 
good standing amongst the valuable ministers of the day, 
and one who was concerned to be found faithful in the ex- 
ercise of the gift committed to her. At what time she came 
forth in the ministry we know not, but she had a portion of 
trial to fit her for the work. Her husband was one who 
went into the separation with George Keith, and whose 
estrangement from Friends must have been cause of great 
concern to her. But he was restored, and perhaps the 
testimony which he gave against himself may have sufficient 
historical importance to merit a place here. 



iFam(lj> Mottsi 249 

Dear Friends, — I am constrained to give forth this testi- 
many against myself, for caution to others, desiring that 
none may be tossed to and fro, as I have been, sometimes 
holding this opinion, and sometimes that opinion, and 
sometimes netiher. 

O Friends, how have I been hurried from mountain to hill 
in self-conceited imagination, and in the exaltation of that 
serpentine wisdom in which I strove furiously in the dark 
night of apostacy that has been over me, vainly endeavoring 
to overturn the way and work of the Lord. In this, "black- 
ness of darkness," I find I was a wanderer from the presence 
of God, and subject to all the twistings of Satan. But 
blessed be the Lord who hath once more extended his rod 
of correction in mercy, and hath not left my soul in hell, 
but has let me see my dangerous condition. Glory to his 
holy name for ever! Now, Friends, I do assure you that 
for a time I thought myself safe, and in that time I abused 
Friends and the Truth, with all the calumnies and oppro- 
brious speeches and actions I could invent, being persuaded 
by the devil and his agents, that I did well. In so doing, I 
neither spared cost nor pains. But blessed be the Lord 
who found me out in the height and full career of these blind 
and wicked practices. That very day I read that paper ^ 
so irreverently before a great congregation there met and 
gathered to worship the Lord. 

To the grief of my heart I remember with what rigour I 
introduced it in the window where I stood. When I had so 
done, people being gathered in the streets of Burlington into 

' This paper was a challenge from George Keith to the yearly meeting 
then sitting at Burlington, to hear "an appeal" which he had printed. 
James Cooper, although the door of the meeting-house was open, 
climbed up into one of the windows, and read part of it whilst that 
ancient and honourable Friend, Thomas Janney was at prayer. This 
act he might well call irreverent. 



250 Uegentifii of a iStoctfjem Countj> 

many companies disputing, and I as hot as any, having 
some respite, I went into George Hutchinson's house, and 
to George Keith in a chamber there, where I found him 
alone. Now said I, "George, why art thou here, and we 
are at war in the streets," He answered, knocking one 
hand upon another, "I have done with them, and I hope, 
when we die, they and I shall not both go to the same place." 
These words, at that very instant, struck such amazement 
upon me, that I trembled, saying within myself, he hopes 
well for himself, but bad for them, surely this man wants 
charity. 

I say in the presence of God, and in the sincerity of my 
heart, I am truly sorrowful for my outgoing, and I do con- 
demn, and let it be condemned, all and everything that I 
have been concerned in, wherein the truth of God hath 
suffered or his people. Particularly the late separation 
with all the whimseys, and notions thereof, and all the writ- 
ing and printing of that kind, and all the scandalizing and 
laying open friends and brethren, whether true or false, as 
knowing it unchristian; — with all those revolution doc- 
trines,^ and non-belief of the perpetuity of the damned in 
hell. I desire that the Lord may forgive me; and blessed 
be his eternal name. I feel in measure that he hath. He 
hath seen my exercises, and given ear to my cry, when no 
eye saw me but his alone. Blessed be his name for ever. I 
can say he hath once more given me an earnest of his love, 
otherwise I had sank under the weight of my burden. O 
he hath let me feel his rod which hath driven me to make 
this confession. I have not done it of my own will, neither 
am I driven (thereto) by others. Glory to his name for 
ever, can my soul truly say. Friends, I can say to the 
praise of God, and in behalf of the Truth, that I have felt 

'George Keith's doctrine of transmigration of souls. 



Jfamilj> i^otei 251 

the ancient arm of love to the refreshment of my soul, since 
I set my face homewards again, at times; but in an especial 
manner in this great assembly (wherein) the Lord made me 
willing to take shame to myself that he might have the 
praise, and truth be cleared. O Friends, take it from one 
that speaks his experience, and can say the overshadowing 
love of God is wanting amongst those that are gone from 
you, notwithstanding their boasting. What shall I say, 
this is the truth, and there is not another, and the panting 
of my soul is that the Lord may bring out many more, as 
he hath me, many of whom I know (departed) through me, 
and with me fell into the pit or gulf. God forgive me, for 
being so forward an instrument in that wicked work, which 
produced such bad effects, and protect me with his holy 
protection from henceforth. Friends, great hath been my 
exercise, since the Lord drove me home again, all which I 
took patiently, knowing my deserts. 

Now, Friends, that you will forgive and forget as much 
as in you lies, all that I have acted, spoken, or done against 
the truth of God, or his people in general, and against any 
particular Friends; some of which are gone to their own 
home. O I desire when I finish my course, my soul may 
rest with their's, and I desire I may be received into the 
unity of the church. Your distressed brother, 

James Cooper Jr. 

Philad., 19th of Seventh mo., 1695. 

This paper was presented by James Cooper to the Yearly 
Meeting held in Philadelphia, and the reception of it was 
minuted. He afterwards became a useful member of the 
Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia, and one in good repute. 

Esther Cooper was much made use of in the discipline of 
our religious Society, and we can trace some of her labours 
in the ministry. In the Seventh month, 1701, she was set 



252 ILegenbJi o! a i^ortfjent Countj> 

at liberty to visit the meetings of Friends in Maryland and 
Virginia, and a valuable minister, named Elizabeth Key, 
bore her company. In the Third month, 1702, she had the 
unity of her friends in a prospect of service about Egg 
Harbour, and again she had Elizabeth Key for her com- 
panion. She appears to have frequently visited the meet 
ings near Philadelphia. We find her with another fellow 
labourer in the gospel, Mary Lawson, visiting the meetings 
at Plymouth, By berry, Abington, and Frankford — with 
Martha Chalkley, at Germantown, Groynned, and Abing- 
ton. We can trace her at these meetings many times, 
sometimes, having the company of Hugh Durborough, 
sometimes of his wife Elizabeth, sometimes of George 
Gray, sometimes of Sarah Goodson, all of whom were 
ministers in good esteem. We can follow her in her la- 
bours of love until about the middle of the year 1706, after 
which our only trace of her is this short minute. 

Esther Cooper, wife of James Cooper, departed this life 
the 13th of the Tenth mo. 1706. She was raised in testi- 
mony here. 

The first William Cooper married Mary Groome, 
whose grandfather, Samuel, was one of the twelve pro- 
prietors of East New Jersey in 1681-82; he is described 
as "Samuel Groome, of the parish of Stepney, in the 
County of Middlesex, Mariner." As early as 1676 he 
was cruising off Maryland in command of his own ship, 
probably looking for a stray Spaniard, for peace-loving 
as Quakers were, they were willing to smite the enemy 
when profitable opportunity offered; and perhaps 
"Samuel Groome, Mariner," was not then a Quaker. 



jfamilp Moit^ 253 

William Carter, Mayor of Philadelphia in 171 1, was 
not a Quaker and did not come to America for his soul's 
sake, but to escape the penalty, death, I believe, for 
killing deer in one of the King's forests. His daughter, 
Ann, married WilHam Hibes and their daughter, 
Hannah, married the second James Cooper at Christ 
Church, Philadelphia, in 1750. 

William Cooper, of Cooperstown, married Elizabeth 
Fenimore, daughter of Richard Fenimore of Rancocus, 
N. J., December 12, 1774. He lived in Burlington, 
N. J., until his removal to Cooperstown in 1788. He' 
moved his family in 1789, and James Fenimore Cooper 
was born in Burlington in that year. 

The Fenimores came from Finmere originally Fene- 
mere or Fennimore, Oxfordshire, England, and are 
enrolled in Domesday Book as holding a manor of that 
name, which they held until the sixteenth century. 

Of the five generations of Cooper men, who have been 
especially associated with Cooperstown, not one was 
bom in that village. Many of these facts are from 
an elaborate genealogy prepared by the late W. W. 
Cooper of Washington about 1885. 

The public activities of, and offices held, by all of these 
men can be found in Proud's History of Pennsylvania 
and Mulford's History of New Jersey. Most of them 
were active in public life and held important offices 
from time to time. 



254 Hegenbsf ot a jBtortfjem Countp 

William Cooper was a great pioneer; he began the 
settlement at Cooperstown in 1785, with about sLxteen 
thousand dollars in cash; his inventory on November 
16, 1797, was as follows: 

Dols. Cts. 
Total value of lands unsold 165 788.00 

In Bonds and Mortgages 162 312.00 

328 100.00 
One share in the New City Tavern 

in Broadway, New York 375-00 

328 47500 

His total land holdings aggregated over three quarters 
of a million acres. 

When he died in 1809 he was supposed to be worth 
about seven hundred thousand dollars. He made, 
besides Cooperstown, large settlements at Williams- 
town (De Kalb), Coopers Village, Coopers, and other 
places. He was an active Federalist and was appointed 
First Judge of Otsego County in 1791; he was repre- 
sentative in Congress for the Sessions of December 7, 
1795-March 3, 1797, and December 2, 1799-March 3, 
1 80 1. He died in Albany, December 2, 1809. 

It is said that, as a youth, he ran away from home on 
account of some disagreement with his father and that 
some of the other of the children went with him. He 
was a Quaker, but as appears from the family papers 
was expelled from that Society. All of the Coopers 



jFamilp Moitsi 255 

and Fenimores were Quakers. When he left BurUngton 
for Cooperstown in 1 789 his wife at the last minute sat 
down in her father's library chair and refused to come. 
The carriage and wagons were loaded, and at the door, 
so William picked up the chair and his wife and put 
them both in a wagon. The chair is the old Queen 
Ann arm chair now at Fynmere. 

Judge Cooper's personal appearance is made fairly 
well known to us by his portraits : a Gilbert Stuart, a 
John Trumbull, and one by an unknown artist. In 
addition to these we have his son's description in the 
letter from Canajoharie, written about 1833, and pub- 
lished in this volume, and the following, quoted from 
an address delivered at a meeting of the Oneida His- 
torical Society ; he is mentioned as one of the four great 
pioneers of New York State ; the other three are Rieter 
Evertsen Hulst, Sir William Johnson and Col. Charles 
Williamson; of William Cooper in 1785, it says: 

"He was then thirty-one years of age, in the full 
health and vigor of perfect manhood, nearly six feet in 
height, of fine figure, with a rich, deep complexion," 

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER 

James Fenimore Cooper was born September 15, 
1789. He married Susan Augusta de Lancey, January 
I, 181 1, and died at Cooperstown, September 14, 1851. 



256 Hejjenbsi of a J^ortfiem Countp 

He was educated at Cooperstown and by Rev. Thomas 
Ellison, Rector of St. Peter's Church, Albany, until he 
entered Yale College at thirteen, in the Class of 1806. 
He was expelled in his junior year. His father sent 
him to sea, as a common sailor before the mast, as a 
preparation for entering the Navy. He spent one 
year cruising in foreign waters and then was appointed 
a midshipman. He resigned from the Navy at about 
the time of his marriage. He lived in Westchester 
County, New York City, and Cooperstown until he 
sailed for Europe in 1826. He spent seven years 
abroad, and on his return in 1833, took up his residence 
at Cooperstown and lived there until his death in 1851. 
In 1826 his name was changed from Cooper to Feni- 
more-Cooper, by the Legislature of the State of New 
York. He did this in fulfillment of a promise made 
his mother years before. 

PAUL FENIMORE COOPER 

Paul Fenimore Cooper, my father, was born in 
New York City, February 3, 1824. He graduated from 
Hobart College, and for a short time attended the 
Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Albany 
until his death, April 21, 1895. He married, at Coopers- 
town, Mary Fuller Barrows, June 28, 1855, a daughter of 
Rev. Eleazer Storrs Barrows and Catherine Chloe Fuller, 
one of the daughters of Dr. Thomas Fuller of Cooperstown. 



Jfamilp Mott6 257 

The usual family genealogist has been active in all 
these families, and there are books on the Barrows and 
Fuller families and in England one on the Fenimores. 

SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 

Sir William Johnson was one of the greatest and 
most interesting figures in Colonial history. He was 
born in Ireland and lived there until about his twenty- 
second year when he came to New York. 

His mother was Anne Warren, a sister of Admiral 
Sir Peter Warren, who brought him to America. Sir 
Peter married Susanna de Lancey ("Sweet Susan de 
Lancey "), a sister of Lieut.-Governor James de Lancey, 
who was my great-great-grandfather ; and lived much of 
his life in New York. He owned, in addition to land 
near and in New York City, a large tract in the Mohawk 
Valley, known as Warrensbush or Warrensborough, and 
brought his nephew, William Johnson, to this country 
to take charge of it about 1737. 

Sir Peter commanded the English fleet at the siege of 
Louisburg. He was a very successful naval commander 
and accumulated a large fortune in prize money. His 
share of the loot of one captured fleet alone amount- 
ing to over three himdred thousands pounds. He is 
buried in Westminster Abbey. 

Sir William Johnson soon became a great landholder 
in his own right; his Royal grant on the Mohawk con- 

17 



258 Hegentis! of a i^ortfjem Countp 

taining thousands of acres and his Dreamland tract on 
the Susquehanna thirty thousand. He was a Colonel 
in the British Army, and commanded troops and fought 
at Niagara, Lake George, and in other engagements. 

His greatest claim to distinction, however, was his 
handling of the Indians of the Six Nations, the most 
warlike, and dreaded of all our Indians. He was ap- 
pointed Indian Commissioner by the English govern- 
ment, and for years kept the Iroquois friendly to the 
colony. He was adored by and almost lived with them. 
King Hendrick, Red Jacket, and Brant were his in- 
timate and devoted friends and constantly at his home. 

His first considerable house was Fort Johnson, just 
west of Amsterdam and his later residence, Johnson 
Hall, at Johnstown; both are still standing. 

He had one son. Sir John Johnson, by Katherine 
Weisenburg, known as his first wife ; after her death he 
took as his housekeeper Mollie Brant, the sister of 
Brant, the great Mohawk Chief; by her he had a 
large family. He probably never was legally married. 
There is a letter in existence written by James Feni- 
more Cooper which says that Hendrick Frey, one of 
Sir William's friends and executors, told Judge Cooper 
that Sir William had told him that he never had been 
married. His only white son, Sir John, married Mary- 
Watts, whose mother was Anne de Lancey, a sister of 
Lady Warren. 



Jfamilp Mottn 259 

The details of Sir William's life are told in several 
biographies, and this note is merely to tell my descend- 
ants of their connection with him and Sir John. 

Sir William died just before the Revolution broke 
out. Sir John was a Tory and left an evil reputation 
on account of his attacks on the Mohawk Valley set- 
tlers, in which he was associated with Walter Butler 
and certain of the Indians of the Six Nations. 

"TANGIER" SMITH 

"Tangier Smith," so called, was Col. William Smith. 
He was a Colonel in the British Army at a very early 
age, and was Governor of Tangiers. He is said to have 
been a great favorite of the King's, which accounted 
for his early promotion. He married Martha Tunstall 
of Putney, Coimty of Surrey, at Tangiers in 1675. He 
came to New York and settled there. He was Lord of 
the Manor of St. George, on Long Island ; the Manor is 
said originally to have been fifty miles wide on the 
ocean and that width across Long Island. 

Among the old papers in my possession is one, yel- 
low with age, on which are set forth many details 
of the life of "Tangier" Smith; purporting to be 
copied from a book kept by William and some of his 
descendants. 

One entry reads as follows: 



26o iCejjentijS oC a iBtortfjem Countp 

Col. William Smith was born at Newton near Higham 
Ferrers, in Northamptonshire, England, February 2nd 
1655. He seems to have been in great favor with Charles 
2nd, which was continued during the reigns of James 2nd, 
William and Mary and Queen Anne, Charles 2nd, in 1675, 
appointed him Governor of Tangiers — in 1683 he returned 
to England and embarked in trade. He arrived with his 
family in New York August 6th 1686 — and is supposed to 
have removed to Brookhaven 1689. 

He had a large family; seven daughters and six sons. 
One of the latter, Henry, "bom in the Royall Citty of 
Tangier in Africa, was Joined in holy wedlock to Anna 
Shepard of Charleston in the County of Middlesex by 
the Revd Mr. Cotton Mather and Col. John Phillips" 
in 1704. 

May 23, 1692, was, if the record speaks truly, a dis- 
agreeable day for "Tangier" Smith: 

Mr Smith & my selfe went to ye South, ye nexte day 
after wee came home Mr Smith was taken with a pain 
beeloe his lefte shoulder Blade, it continued to groe worse 
& I had thoughts hee might a sprained or hurt some vaine 
by lifting me upon horseback in his armes it continued 
and shout to his left brest — I put ottes fryed in vinegar to 
his side and he found some ease — then I put wormwood 
fried to his side and yt maide his heade ake and maide his 
side much worse on Sunday the 29 of May my dere Billy 
was lett Blud on ye lefte arme — blead 8 ounces and drinkd 
a porringer of muten brought & he was not sicke when ye 
blud stoped — I allso put a plastor to his side whare the 
pain was & with the blessing of God it was very well. 



Jfamrt|> i^otetf 261 

He had a bad time again in September, 1695, when 
* * He was taken with a collocke and was ready to burst ' ' ; 
he recovered and lived until 1705, when he died, only 
fifty years old. 

One of his daughters, Martha, married Caleb Heath- 
cote, who came to New York from England about 1686. 
The cause of Caleb's leaving home, and in due time 
becoming one of our ancestors, has been handed down 
for over two centuries ; he was engaged to a very beauti- 
ful girl and took his elder brother, Gilbert, to see her, 
Gilbert was afterwards Sir Gilbert Heathcote, one of the 
originators and first president of the Bank of England, 
she may have foreseen the future ; in any event she and 
Gilbert fell in love and married. The heart-broken 
Caleb fled to the Colony of New York. The lady was 
Hester Raynor. Anne Heathcote, Caleb's daughter, 
married James de Lancey, Chief Justice and Governor 
of the Colony of New York; James was the son of 
Etienne de Lancey, a Huguenot who left France on the 
revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and his wife Anne 
Van Courtland, who, in turn, was the daughter of 
Stephanus Van Cortlandt and Gertruy Schuyler, 
daughter of Philip Schuyler and the charming Mar- 
gritta Von Schlechtenhorst. A son of James de Lancey 
and Anne Heathcote, John Peter de Lancey, married 
Elizabeth Floyd, and their daughter, Susan Augusta de 
Lancey, was the wife of James Fenimore Cooper. This 



262 Hegentifi; of a Jtortfiem Count? 

is the story of our New York Colonial ancestry, in 
brief; you can find it in great detail in Jones' History 
of New York in the Revolution. 

The de Lanceys were Tories and all the men, but one, 
held commissions in the British army or navy and saw 
service against the colonies in the Revolution. This 
cost them their American land, all of which was con- 
fiscated and sold. 

An amusing story is told of John Peter ; he was edu- 
cated at Harrow and Cambridge, and was a Captain in 
the Royal Irish Fusiliers ; he went back to England after 
peace was made in 1783. The Colonel of his regiment 
was very overbearing and in the habit of insulting the 
subalterns. It got to be so bad that his officers agreed 
that next time he insulted one of them, they would 
draw lots and the one to whom the lot fell would chal- 
lenge the Colonel — a capital offense in those days. 
When lots were drawn the fatal number fell to John 
Peter de Lancey; he promptly challenged the Colonel, 
who, instead of fighting him, reported the affair to the 
Horse Guards. John Peter knew that the game was 
up ; so he put his family on board a boat at Greenwich ; 
watched imtil he saw the Colonel coming out of the 
Horse Guards and caned him. His horse was waiting 
and he made his escape to Greenwich, got on the boat 
and sailed to this country. 

The irate King struck his name from the Army List 



Jfaniilj* Motti 263 

with his own hand; and John Peter avoided England 
for the rest of his Hfe. He is the portly man in white 
waistcoat whose portrait hangs in the library. It's a 
pretty tale, and anyway the portrait is of a man who 
might have done such a thing. 

Years ago I was told the story of the wooing of Mar- 
gritta, wife of Philip Schuyler; it seems that Philip, 
who was big and stout, and Margritta's father, came to 
blows on the trail near Rensselaerwyck, in a dispute 
over pelts or tobacco or rum ; Philip was winning when 
Margritta rushed to her father's aid and beat up Philip. 
He was so much impressed by her fistic ability and by 
her value as an ally, in those days of red men and 
danger, that he married her. All this about the year 
1650. 1 can't vouch for the story but it was an old man's 
tale when I was a boy in Albany, where many people 
still spoke the Dutch of the seventeenth century, and 
was told me by a well-known local antiquarian. 









c. »r> 



'.<^. 












.-^^ /. 





















^<^<^ 















o V 

















v^ ' lSii0^ • -"^ c*^ *j* 






5 ^o 







;♦ <.^ 



^0^ 





r^o^ 


























O^ * o , ' ^O 

^ooNOfi^ i^, V .-ftp *'* 



•I* - - - ^- v--^ - • ^v *p' 



vPC,- 



